Russia Wants Ukrainian Government & Rebels to Negotiate

{{Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin has said the Kiev government needs help to establish a dialogue with pro-Russian activists in southeastern Ukraine and that steps would soon be taken to bring this about.}}

“It appears that without external help the Kiev authorities are not capable of establishing such a dialogue,” Karasin told Rossiya-24 television on Sunday.

He said a Ukrainian military operation, aimed at retaking rebel-held territory, was in breach of an agreement signed in Geneva last month that was intended to defuse the crisis.

“In the coming days, new efforts will be taken … to sit the Kiev authorities and representatives of the south-east at the negotiating table,” Karasin said.

{{He gave no further details.}}

Kiev and Moscow blame each other for unrest in the southern city of Odessa, where at least 42 people were killed on Friday in a street battle between supporters and opponents of Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his U.S. counterpart John Kerry agreed in a telephone call on Saturday that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe should play a bigger role in reducing tension.

{Above..Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin attend a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.}
{themoscowtimes}