Kerry in Russia for planned talks with Putin, Lavrov


Story highlights

  • John Kerry is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as Russia's foreign minister
  • "It's important to try to talk to the senior decision maker," a State Department official says
Moscow (CNN)U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Sochi, Russia, on Tuesday ahead of a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Sergei Lavrov, Kerry's Russian counterpart.
A senior State Department Official said of the meeting: "It's important to try to talk to the senior decision maker. We have an opportunity to do that."

It's Kerry's first visit to Russia in two years and comes at a time of severely strained relations between the two powers.
On the table are a full range of bilateral and regional issues, including Iran, Syria and the threat from ISIS, Yemen, Libya and Ukraine, the official said.
Russia has not yet formally announced the meeting between Kerry and Putin, but it is expected to follow a sit-down between the secretary of state and Lavrov.
Beforehand, Kerry and Lavrov will lay wreaths for soldiers killed in World War II, following a weekend of events to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.
A press conference with Lavrov is likely to take place later in the day.
Relations between the United States and Russia have deteriorated in large part thanks to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

'Critical moment'

U.S. officials, like many in the West, accuse Russia of equipping and supporting pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine, as well as sending its own soldiers over the border into Ukraine, claims Moscow denies. Russia also annexed Ukraine's Crimea region last year.
The United States and European Union have imposed financial sanctions against Russian interests in an attempt to pressure Moscow into changing course.
The senior State Department official said it was a "critical moment" to move forward on Ukraine and try to stop the violence.
Kerry will stress "the vital importance of full and fast and complete implementation of the Minsk agreements," the official said, referring to a ceasefire deal reached in Minsk, Belarus, earlier this year.
"We've been very, very clear publicly that if Minsk is fully implemented, when it's fully implemented, including restoration of the sovereign border, there'll be an opportunity to roll back sanctions. We've also made clear that if there is -- are more serious violations that the pressure will increase," the official said.
The expected meeting between Kerry and Putin may signal a desire by Russia to move toward a normalization of bilateral relations.
Russia blames the United States for the Ukraine crisis, saying it was its support for the administration now in power in Kiev which led to the ouster of Ukraine's former pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych in early 2014, following weeks of street protests.
The United States is currently providing almost $130 million in nonlethal security support to Ukraine and is helping to train the Ukrainian National Guard in western Ukraine.

Turkey meetings

Kerry will travel on from Sochi to Antalya, in Turkey, where he will hold talks with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin on what was discussed in Sochi.
He will also speak with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and other NATO foreign ministers, before meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Kerry is expected to return to Washington in time for President Barack Obama's dinner with members of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

cnn.

Popular posts from this blog

UK GENERAL ELECTIONS:Inquiry announced into memo alleging Sturgeon wants Tory election victory.

Image
Civil service instigates investigation into leaked memo from Foreign Office about supposed comments made in February Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, with David Cameron in her office at the Scottish parliament earlier this year. Photograph: WPA Pool/Getty A civil service inquiry into a leaked memo which claimed that Nicola Sturgeon privately wanted to see David Cameron remain in power after the general election has been instigated following calls from the First Minister. Ms Sturgeon described the allegation as “100% untrue” and accused Whitehall of “dirty tricks”.
Read more

Ebola Outbreak: Guinea Declares Emergency As Overall Deaths From Ebola Rise To 1,069

Image
Health workers take passengers' temperatures infrared digital laser thermometers at the Felix Houphouet Boigny international airport in Abidjan on Aug. 13, 2014. Ivory Coast on Monday banned air travellers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the three countries worst-hit by the Ebola outbreak, and ordered its flagship carrier Air Cote d'Ivoire to cease flights to and from them. Reuters/Luc Gnago Guinea, one of the worst-hit West African nations in the ongoing Ebola outbreak, announced a state of emergency Wednesday. The World Health Organization, or WHO, also  said  that four new people died in Guinea between Aug. 10 and Aug. 11. The total death count in Guinea from the latest epidemic was estimated at 377 by WHO while the number of cases reported had risen to ...
Read more