Kerry goes to Moscow to exchange Crimea for Donbass
Moscow - Kyiv, January 30 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Stamm) - As it became known “To Kommersant”, US Secretary of State John Kerry may come to Moscow for negotiations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on February 4-5. Perhaps Kerry will invite Russia to recognize Crimea as its territory in exchange for refusing to support Donbass and abandoning the ultimatum related to the association of Ukraine and the EU.
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On January 25, during a telephone conversation, John Kerry already made it clear to Sergei Lavrov that the United States, which has not participated in multilateral negotiations on resolving the Ukrainian crisis since the April meeting in Geneva, is not averse to actively participating in the process.
The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry then assured Kerry that Moscow is ready to “do everything in its power to encourage the parties to a peaceful solution, with the understanding that real results can be achieved exclusively through direct dialogue with Donetsk and Lugansk, which Kiev avoids in every possible way.” Lavrov called on the United States to “use its influence on the Ukrainian leadership to achieve a refusal to rely on a military scenario.”
It is still unclear how Kerry will frighten and bribe the Kremlin, and whether Moscow will falter under US pressure. But in Kyiv they really hope for this, since so far all the “peace initiatives” in Donbass have de facto strengthened its position. Earlier, experts in the United States, in particular Ariel Cohen, expressed confidence that Washington is ready to recognize the Russian status of Crimea in exchange for the Russians refusing to put pressure on Kyiv over the Donbass and the association agreement with the EU.
It is expected that negotiations on Ukraine in one format or another will take place on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on February 6–8, where both the heads of the Russian and US Foreign Ministries and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavel Klimkin will take part.
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