Secretary of State John Kerry will be heading to Kyiv Monday for discussions there Tuesday, the U.S. top diplomat tweeted as Russia continued to assert increasing control over Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.
"Secretary Kerry will meet with senior representatives of Ukraine’s new government, leaders of the Rada (Ukraine's parliament), and members of civil society. The Secretary will reaffirm the United States' strong support for Ukrainian sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and the right of the Ukrainian people to determine their own future, without outside interference or provocation," says a statement by the U.S. State Department.
I will be headed to Kyiv, Ukraine tomorrow night for discussions there Tuesday.
Quoting a senior U.S. government official, the New York Times reports that the trip will be a gesture of support for the new Ukrainian government.
Also on Sunday, President Barack Obama spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, according to senior administration officials. The purpose of the talks, they said, was to re-state the "complete illegitimacy" of Russian action in Ukraine and discuss available responses.
According to the officials, the U.S. and its allies are looking into offering an "off-ramp" if Moscow chooses to pursue its concerns diplomatically. International tools, they said, are available to President Vladimir Putin to address concerns about the safety of ethnic Russians, such as through the United Nations and/or through monitors from the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe.
The Group of Seven major industrialized nations (G-7) on Sunday condemned Russia's intrusion into Ukraine and canceled for now preparations for the G-8 summit that includes Russia and had been scheduled to take place in Sochi in June, the White House said.
”We, the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States and the President of the European Council and President of the European Commission, join together today to condemn the Russian Federation's clear violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” the G7 said in a statement.
We have decided for the time being to suspend our participation in activities associated with the preparation of the scheduled G-8 Summit in Sochi in June,” the group said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has ordered a full military mobilization after Russian lawmakers authorized the deployment of troops on Ukraine territory.
Ukraine's new prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, said the Russian decision is a declaration of war. The pro-Western government in Kyiv, which ousted pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych last month, has appealed to the international community for help.
Prime Minister Yatsenyuk said in an address from parliament Sunday "we are on the brink of disaster" and called for Russia to pull back its military and abide by international obligations. Up to one million army reservists are to report to duty on Monday.
In Washington, Secretary Kerry on Sunday condemned Russia's “incredible act of aggression” in Ukraine and threatened economic sanctions by the United States and allies to isolate Moscow, but called for a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
“You just don't in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped up pretext,” Kerry told the CBS program “Face the Nation.”
News agencies in Moscow report Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Obama, in a Saturday telephone call, Moscow reserves the right to protect ethnic Russians in Crimea and eastern Ukraine.
Russian and pro-Russian forces appear in control of much of Crimea. The autonomous Ukrainian republic, home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet, has an ethnic Russian majority and has historic ties to Moscow.
Unidentified soldiers, widely believed to be Russian troops, took up positions around Simferopol. Ukrainian soldiers and police seen on the streets appeared to be following an order from the region's pro-Russian prime minister to fall under his command or resign.
Reports that Russian troops had surrounded several Ukrainian military bases on the peninsula added to the tensions, though there appears to be no direct conflict.
In a news conference Sunday, local parliament speaker Vladimir Konstantinov claimed the situation had "stabilized."
He dismissed the legitimacy of the new government in Kyiv, characterizing it as composed of extremists.