If Kyiv uses force in southeastern Ukraine, four-sided meeting in Geneva will be foiled - Lavrov
MOSCOW. April 13 (Interfax) - The use of force against the residents of southeastern Ukraine will foil the planned four-sided meeting to resolve the crisis in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a telephone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
"Lavrov said that if the threats made in Kyiv to use force against residents of the South-East driven to despair materialize, the prospect of further cooperation on the Ukrainian issue will be undermined, including the planned four-sided meeting in Geneva," a Russian Foreign Ministry report posted on Saturday night says.
It says that the Saturday telephone conversation of Lavrov and Kerry was initiated by the U.S. side.
Earlier the EU announced that on April 17 Geneva would host a four-sided meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Russia, the USA and Ukraine and chief of EU diplomacy to resolve the Ukrainian crisis. The Russian side did not officially confirm the information, but earlier Russian Foreign Ministry sources told Interfax that the possibility of such a meeting in Europe was being considered.
