Russia clarifies Ukraine stance as Sergei Lavrov meets John Kerry in Paris. [View all]
Source: Guardian
Russia's radical terms for agreeing a diplomatic solution to the crisis over its annexation of Crimea are becoming clearer after Sergei Lavrov, the country's foreign minister, said Moscow wanted greater autonomy for southern and eastern parts of Ukraine where many ethnic Russians live.
Speaking on Russian state television ahead of emergency talks in Paris on Sunday with John Kerry, his US counterpart, Lavrov said Moscow wanted a federal solution for Ukraine as part of "deep constitutional reform".
"Frankly speaking, we don't see any other way for the steady development of the Ukrainian state apart from as a federation," he said.
Under the Russian plan, which Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin reportedly discussed in a phone call initiated by Moscow on Friday, each region would have control of its economy, taxes, culture, language, education and "external economic and cultural connections with neighbouring countries or regions," Lavrov said.
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/30/russia-ukraine-john-kerry-sergei-lavrov-paris
Lavrov: If West accepts coup-appointed Kiev govt, it must accept a Russian Crimea.
The West is inconsistent in not recognizing the Crimea referendum as legitimate, while recognizing the military coup in Kiev, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said. He accused the EU and US of duplicity and described sanctions as a “dead-end track.”
If the West accepts Kiev’s coup-appointed government then it must, in turn, accept the legitimacy of Crimea’s referendum to join with Russia, Lavrov said in an interview Sunday.
“Even if you put aside the issue of legitimacy where Maidan and Crimea are concerned (though I am convinced that the Kiev coup goes against the rule of law, while Crimea referendum was the will of the people, and to contest such an overwhelming number of votes in favor of joining Russia is impossible). From a diplomatic point of view, it doesn’t make sense to recognize what happened on Maidan as legitimate, while at the same time claiming what happened in Crimea is illegitimate," Lavrov told Irada Zeinalova, the host of the “Sunday Time” analytical program on Russia’s Channel One TV.
“If they are willing to accept the first event as legitimate, then surely they are obliged to acknowledge the second.”
http://rt.com/news/lavrov-crimea-ukraine-west-181/
That seems to be from today prior to the meeting in Paris too.
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