Russia, U.S. reaffirm need for immediate end of military operation in Ukraine - Lavrov
PARIS. June 5 (Interfax) - Russia and the United States have reaffirmed the need for the military operation in Ukraine to be stopped immediately, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The parties "clearly confirmed the need for an immediate discontinuation of the military operation," the Russian foreign minister said after his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday.
"It has already gone beyond all limits: artillery and aviation working against civilian areas, killing more and more civilians," the Russian minister said.
"Once again we drew the attention of our U.S. colleagues to the fact that affairs in Ukraine should be conducted in the context of the Geneva Statement and a roadmap presented by the OSCE chairman on the basis thereof. John Kerry has agreed that this is precisely the way in which the situation should be restored and that the most important demand is for any violence to stop," Lavrov said.
Also, Russia hopes that the U.S. will use its influence on the Ukrainian president-elect, Petro Poroshenko, to end violence and the military operation. "We are very hopeful that the U.S. influence on the Ukrainian president-elect (Petro) Poroshenko will be used to disconue the escalation and standoff," Lavrov said.
The Russian foreign minister drew Kerry's attention to the fact that some of the actions undertaken recently by the U.S. and the European Union - a NATO meeting, a number of G7 statements - do not help create a constructive dialogue.
"On the contrary, they create an illusion of permissiveness among certain officials in Kyiv. Such an approach will lead to nothing good," Lavrov said.
The bilateral talks were held at a hotel in central Paris on Thursday ahead of the festivities to mark the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings.
