WASHINGTON, April 25 (RIA Novosti) – Russia will pay a high price for its policy on Ukraine and is not abiding by last week’s Geneva agreement, US Secretary of State John Kerry said during a briefing Friday.
“If Russia continues in this direction, it will not just be a grave mistake, it will be an expensive mistake,” said Kerry, adding the Russian economy is already paying the price for Moscow’s stand on Ukraine.
The US Secretary of State also accused Russia of not taking “a single concrete step” to implement the recent Geneva agreement.
“For seven days, Russia has refused to take a single concrete step in the right direction. Not a single Russian official – not one – has publicly gone on television in Ukraine and called on the separatists to support the Geneva Agreement, to support the stand-down, to give up their weapons and get out of the Ukrainian buildings,” he said.
On Thursday, US President Barack Obama said that his country and its allies are ready to impose tougher sanctions on Russia if the situation in Ukraine continues to escalate. Russian President Vladimir Putin in turn warned Kiev against continuing a special operation in a crackdown on pro-federalization supporters, which has already led to five deaths.
Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov also said Thursday Kiev should acknowledge its responsibility in the Geneva agreement and take the first steps to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine.
Top diplomats from Russia, Ukraine, the US and the EU met in Geneva on April 17 and approved a statement calling on the sides in Ukraine to refrain from violence, extremism and provocations, disarm militants and launch a national dialogue on constitutional reform. Despite Kiev’s promises to lay down arms, attacks on pro-federalization protesters continue.
The US and EU earlier imposed targeted sanctions against Moscow over its reunification with Crimea, a former region of Ukraine, that held a referendum in March, where 96 percent of population voted for integration with Russia. Moscow has repeatedly stated that the language of sanctions is "inappropriate and counterproductive."
