Diplomacy Fails With Kerry’s Deadline Near And Russian Troops On Ukraine Border

Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov failed to reach an agreement Friday to resolve the Ukraine crisis. The latest development comes as Russian troops gather in at least three regions of Ukraine’s eastern border, and even after Sec. Kerry issued a Monday deadline for Russia, threatening “very serious steps” in the event they do not meet it.

Kerry traveled to London Friday for a meeting with Lavrov ahead of a Sunday referendum vote in the Crimea region to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. Following the meeting, Kerry said he came in “good faith with constructive ideas” to that Putin is not backing down.

“I presented a number of ideas on behalf of the president which we believe absolutely could provide a path forward for all the parties,” Kerry added. “However, after much discussion the foreign minister made it clear that President Putin is not prepared to make any decision regarding Ukraine until after the referendum on Sunday.”

Thursday, Kerry told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee that if the talks failed, the U.S. and Europe on Monday would impose sanctions on Russia.

“There will be a response of some kind to the referendum itself,” Kerry said. “If there is no sign [from Russia] of any capacity to respond to this issue … there will be a very serious series of steps on Monday.”

Meanwhile, Russian news agencies reported the Defense Ministry had ordered six Sukhoi-27 fighter jets and three transport planes to Belarus, a Russian ally, in order to respond to what the Belarus president called a potential NATO threat. The Belarus move came after NATO sent 12 F-16 fighters to Poland last week.

Moscow acknowledged significant military operations including armored vehicles and airborne troops in the Belgorod, Kursk and Rostov regions, all of which within striking distance of eastern Ukraine.

Oleksandr V. Turchynov, Ukraine’s acting president, said in a statement on his official website that he believed Russian forces building on the eastern border were “ready to intervene in Ukraine at any time,” and that he hoped diplomacy between Russia, Ukraine and other nations would “stop the aggression.”

But the failure of the diplomatic meeting in London leaves little to hope such an outcome is likely.