MOSCOW, March 13 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet on Friday to continue discussions aimed at resolving the ongoing political crisis in Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Lavrov and Kerry on Thursday discussed by phone the Ukrainian standoff in light of existing Russian and US proposals to normalize the situation in the ex-Soviet state, the ministry said in a statement.
The sides “agreed to continue dialogue during a bilateral meeting in London on March 14,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, Kerry reiterated Thursday that Russia could face a tough response from the United States and Europe if Moscow refuses to back down in its plans to annex Crimea, an autonomous Ukrainian region with a narrow ethnic Russian majority.
“If there is no sign of any capacity to be able to move forward and resolve this issue there will be a very serious series of steps in Europe and here with respect to the options that are available to us,” Kerry told a congressional meeting.
“The question mark is: is Russia prepared to find a way to negotiate with Ukraine, with the contact group, with the countries involved, in order to resolve this in a way which respects their legitimate interests,” he said.
Both Washington and Brussels have so far threatened Moscow with political isolation, travel bans and assets freezes, but Russia has said any Western sanctions would have “a boomerang effect.”
The turbulent political crisis gripping Ukraine has led to a standoff between Russia and the West over the fate of Crimea, which has refused to recognize the legitimacy of the new central government in Kiev, and declared independence Tuesday ahead of a popular vote to secede from Ukraine and become part of Russia.
A referendum on the issue has been set for Sunday. Authorities in Kiev and international leaders have condemned the referendum as illegitimate.
(Updates with Kerry’s remarks, minor rewrites)
