In a gesture of support for Ukraine, US State Secretary John Kerry visited Kyiv on March 4, paying respect to the nation's fallen heroes, threatening Russia with new sanctions, and pledging economic support to the interim government.
Kerry made his first stop at Hrushevsky
Street, which has been turned into a series of memorials for the
Heavenly Hundred, the 95 people who died during the revolution in
Ukraine that started in November. He brought candles and roses to top
up massive piles of flowers people have been bringing to the site
where dozens of Ukrainians died from sniper shots on Feb. 18-20
Kerry, who said he was paying respects
to these people on behalf of President Barack Obama, described the
experience as “incredibly moving.”
“It was really quite remarkable, I
have to tell you, to see the barricades, see the tires, see the
barbed wire, see the bullet holes in street lamps, the extraordinary
number of flowers, the people still standing beside a barrel with a
fire to keep them warm,” he told journalists at the briefing at
the end of the day.
“It was very moving, and it gave me a
deep, personal sense of how closely linked the people of Ukraine are
to not just Americans, but to people all across the world who today
are asking for their rights, asking for the privilege to be able to
live, defining their own nation, defining their futures,” Kerry
said.
He also said the US was prepared to
back that strive with more than just words. The US government
extended $1 billion of loan guarantees to Ukraine, as well as
negotiated with the government some join short-term term to stabilize
Ukraine’s finances, as well as a longer-term package for growth.
On March 3, Prime Minister Arseniy
Yatseniuk said that Ukraine was committed to “fulfill all IMF
conditions.” The Fund’s mission is working in Ukraine this week to
assess the state of Ukraine’s economy, and is expected to extend up
to $15 billion under the new program when it comes though.
Kerry said that apart from a new IMF
program, additional financial initiatives are being “quickly put
together” by a team in Washington, and that Obama on March 3 asked
the Congress, “which has been making very strong statements about
support for Ukraine, to come to the table quickly with an economic
package.”
He also said the US government is
helping Ukraine to combat corruption and recover stolen assets, as
well as resist Russia’s trade wars. Kerry underscored that the
current government, elected by “the most representative institution
in Ukraine” at the moment, is fully legitimate and recognized by
the west.
He said this government stands in huge
contrast with the Russian authorities in the way it meets challenges.
He said it was a government appointed with consent of people, which
showed great restraint during the invasion of its territory and a
amid an intimidation campaign by Russia.
“The contrast really could not be
clearer:determined Ukrainians demonstrating strength through unity
and a Russia government out of excuses, hiding its hand behind
falsehoods, intimidation, and provocations,” Kerry said.
He also said that unless the Russian
government moves towards de-escalation of the crisis in Ukraine, the
US and its partners will be “forced to” apply additional
sanctions to Russia.
He said Russian President Vladimir
Putin has to start off by pulling his troops in Crimea to its bases.
There is an estimated 16,000 Russian troops at the Crimean peninsula,
most of which have been moved over the last week.
Earlier in the day, Putin denied the
presence of Russian troops in Crimea, and at the same time indicated
that he might be preparing to expand its military intervention to
other parts of Ukraine.
“There are lots of tools at the
disposal of the president of the United States and the United States
of America and other countries. But none of us want to escalate this
so that it becomes the kind of confrontation where … you’re stuck
in a place that’s very hard to climb down from,” Kerry said.
State Secretary John Kerry
fact-checks the Russian government’s claims
Below is a part of John Kerry’s
statement on March 4 about Russian claims about Ukraine, and why they
are wrong.
“In the hearts of Ukrainians and the
eyes of the world, there is nothing strong about what Russia is
doing. So it’s time to set the record straight. The
Russian Government would have you believe it was the opposition who
failed to implement the February 21st agreement that called for
a peaceful transition, ignoring the reality that it was Yanukovych
who, when history came calling, when his country was in need, when
this city was the place where the action was, where the leaders of
the nation were gathered in order to decide the future, he broke his
obligation to sign that agreement and he fled into the night with his
possessions, destroying papers behind him. He abandoned his
people and eventually his country.
The Russian Government would have
you believe that the Ukraine Government somehow is illegitimate or
led by extremists, ignoring the reality that the Rada, representing
the people of Ukraine, the elected representatives of the people of
Ukraine – they overwhelming approved the new government, even with
members of Yanukovych’s party deserting him and voting
overwhelmingly in order to approve this new government. It was
thanks in part to the votes from Yanukovych’s own party that the
future of Ukraine changed. And today, the Rada is the most
representative institution in Ukraine.
The Russian Government would also have
you believe that the calm and friendly streets – one of which I
walked down but many of which I just drove through – that somehow
these streets of Kyiv are actually dangerous, ignoring the reality
that there has been no surge in crime, no surge in looting, no
political retribution here. The Russian Government would have
you believe, against all the evidence, that there have been mass
defections of Ukrainians to Russia, or that there have been mass
attacks on churches in eastern Ukraine. That hasn’t happened,
either.
They would have you believe that ethnic
Russians and Russian bases are threatened. They’d have you
believe that Kyiv is trying to destabilize Crimea or that Russian
actions are legal or legitimate because Crimean leaders invited
intervention. And as everybody knows, the soldiers in Crimea,
at the instruction of their government, have stood their ground but
never fired a shot, never issued one provocation, have been
surrounded by an invading group of troops and have seen an individual
who got 3 percent of the vote installed as the so-called leader by
the Russians.
They would have you believe that Kyiv
is trying to destabilize Crimea, or that somehow Russian leaders
invited intervention. Not a single piece of credible evidence
supports any one of these claims – none.
And the larger point is really this:
It is diplomacy and respect for sovereignty, not unilateral force,
that can best solve disputes like this in the 21st century.
President Obama and I want to make it clear to Russia and to
everybody in the world that we are not seeking confrontation.
There’s a better way for Russia to pursue its legitimate interests
in Ukraine.”
