GENEVA--Foreign ministers from Russia, Ukraine, the U.S. and
European Union were starting talks in Geneva Thursday morning in
the biggest diplomatic effort so far to ease tensions between Kiev
and Moscow.
The meeting will be the highest-level direct talks between
Russia and Ukraine since Moscow annexed the Crimea region and
placed tens of thousands troops on the border. It comes as three
pro-Russian protesters were killed in an overnight clash with
Ukrainian authorities at a military installation in the southeast
of the country.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was the last of the four
ministers to reach in the Swiss lakeside city, arriving Thursday
morning. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with EU foreign
policy chief Catherine Ashton before Mr. Lavrov arrived.
Western officials said ahead of the meeting they were expecting
no sudden breakthrough in calming the crisis.
The talks will seek to contain the escalating crisis and start a
process where tensions can be eased in coming weeks ahead of
presidential elections in Ukraine, due May 25, the officials
said.
The discussions will focus on the growing crisis in eastern
Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists have occupied government
buildings in a number of towns. Ukraine has sent troops to oust the
separatists that Kiev and Washington say are backed by Moscow.
"This will be the first opportunity for this contact group to
meet," said White House spokesman Jay Carney late Wednesday. "And
we expect the conversation to focus on the need to de-escalate, the
need for Russia to demobilize its troop presence on the border with
Ukraine, the need for armed separatist groups within Ukraine to
disband and disarm."
The U.S. and the EU have sought to raise the ante on Russia to
engage in meaningful talks on Thursday.
Mr. Carney said Wednesday the U.S. had "additional sanctions
prepared and we'll impose them as appropriate."
The EU is currently deciding how many Russian officials to add
to a travel ban and asset freeze list and the bloc's executive, the
European Commission, on Wednesday sent details to member states
about possible broader sanctions measures.
Russia has denied it is directly involved in the latest events
in eastern Ukraine. It has demanded Kiev move to shore up the
rights of Russian-speaking Ukrainians and has urged greater
autonomy for Russian dominated provinces.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization also said Wednesday it
would increase its flights over the Baltic nations and send ships
to the Mediterranean and Baltic seas in response to Russia's threat
to Ukraine.
Naftali Bendavid, Jay Solomon and Lukas I. Alpert contributed to
this article.
Write to Laurence Norman at laurence.norman@wsj.com
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