© AFP Photo/Alberto PizzoliUS Secretary of State John Kerry at the end of the meeting on Libya, in Rome on March 6, 2014
"Crimea is part of the Ukraine. Crimea is Ukraine. We support the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and the government of Ukraine needs to be involved in any decision" on whether the peninsula would split off, he told journalists in Rome.
"It's my understanding that the constitution of Ukraine requires an all-Ukraine referendum. Every part of Ukraine, all Ukrainians, would have to be part of a referendum," he said.
His comments came after US President Barack Obama warned that a referendum in Crimea on joining Russia would violate Ukrainian sovereignty and international law.
However, Kerry said the United States' priority was to "continue the intense discussions with both sides in order to try to normalize and end this crisis".
Though the United States would "keep faith" with sanctions already put in place -- such as visa bans and the freezing of assets belonging to those deemed to have played a part in destabilizing Ukraine -- the emphasis in "the next few hours and days" was for dialogue that could lead to a de-escalation of the situation.
"While we reserve the right to take steps beyond those things that were announced today, we want President Putin and Russia and everyone to understand our preference is to get back to a normality," he said.
Kerry was speaking after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of an international meeting in Rome on Libya.
Lavrov was quoted by Russian news agencies after the talks as saying that there was so far no agreement between Moscow and Washington on Ukraine, but said he would inform President Vladimir Putin about "concrete prospective steps" put forward by Kerry.
The US secretary of state said that he and Lavrov "agreed to stay in close touch in order to see if there's a way forward to try to get to the negotiating table".
He said the West was in favour of setting up a contact group on the crisis, but stressed that Ukraine had made it clear it would only take part in such a group if Moscow speaks directly with Kiev, which Moscow has so far refused to do.
Kerry denied there were divisions within the EU over whether to impose sanctions against Russia or not, saying there were "no differences whatsoever".
While Russia "does have some interests in the region", they need to be "dealt with according to the law", he said, adding that the key issue was protecting Ukrainians' rights and respecting "their hopes and aspirations, which they died to achieve".
Source: AFP
Reader Comments
Ukraine is also breadbasket. That breadbasket bailed Western Europe out of a famine in the Dalton Minimum part of the Little Ice Age. Sure, they talk about Global Warming, but they know full well what lies in store for their own crops when the Sun goes on hiatus. China has a lot of investment in farmland there, with the produce being shipped exclusively to China. The EU wants that breadbasket.
It's always about resources, and the covetous greed that desires to steal them away from their owners.
“Negotiating with Obama is like playing chess with a pigeon….the pigeon knocks over all the pieces, shits on the board and then struts around like it won the game..” - Vladimir Putin
Hail Freedonia, Land of The Free...[Link]
They are servants of the 4D overlords of entropy and the marching orders are always the same.The particular strategy may change depending on the geographical location but the order is the same for all locales on all and in all Densities( 1-4) provide energy and food for the 4D overlords,period. The Cosmic Consciuosness will record and return to them the fruits of their labors,the good,the bad and the ugly, in this case it is most profane.To violate the Spiritual Soverignty of one person is profane to violate the Soverignty of an entire planet and Species is unforgivable.This is what the 4D overlords are guilty of and all those who serve them willfully and with knowing intent.
"It's my understanding that the constitution of Ukraine requires an all-Ukraine referendum. Every part of Ukraine, all Ukrainians, would have to be part of a referendum," he said.
LOL. Sure, maybe if the new government hadn't immediately REMOVED the constitutional court that was supposed to make sure the constitution would be followed, he would have a point. This criticism is so surreal, Salvator Dali couldn't make this stuff up.
That kind of argument for the constitution while Kerry supports a government that flagrantly violated that very same constitution to take power is HILARIOUS, too bad the MSM pundits can't make those sort of BLATANT revelations for the people. Almost every word spoken by the U.S. representatives about Russia and Ukraine recently has been 100% hypocrisy, like I don't think there's a single instance where something they claimed wasn't exaggerated or based on lies, and was also something they were already guilty of themselves.
Propaganda of Ukri-EU-Nato-nazis fascists on crimea failed [Link]