Lavrov urges Kerry to persuade Kyiv that its course in eastern Ukraine is destructive
MOSCOW. July 1 (Interfax) - The U.S. should employ its resources to persuade the Ukrainian authorities that their course is destructive, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested in a telephone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday.
"Lavrov emphasized that [Ukrainian] President Petro Poroshenko's decision not to extend the armistice undermines the agreements reached earlier between the leaders of Russia, Germany, France, and Ukraine and starts a new cycle of bloodshed with consequences unpredictable for the Ukrainian state," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website.
"The Russian foreign policy chief contented that it is unacceptable to connive at Kyiv's policy of using force to suppress protests in the southeastern regions, calling on the U.S. to employ its resources to persuade the Ukrainian authorities that their course is destructive," it said.