U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry has told Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov that the
United States remains firmly committed to Ukraine's territorial integrity,
including Crimea, according to Kerry's remarks published by the U.S. Department
of State.
"The
United States remains firmly committed to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial
integrity, and that includes Crimea," Kerry told Lavrov at a
meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow on
Thursday, March 24.
Kerry also stressed the importance of the full implementation of the
Minsk agreements concluded to restore peace in Donbas, eastern Ukraine.
"As President Obama reiterated in his recent call with President
Putin, and as I underscored in our meeting today, our position is clear and we
agree with Sergey Lavrov and Russia that the Minsk agreements must be fully
implemented without delay," he said.
"We discussed how to get back to a real and comprehensive ceasefire
and how to restore unfettered
access for OSCE monitors and how to accelerate the process of a
negotiated – of negotiating the election modalities for Donbas, which are all
critical next steps in this journey," Kerry added.
In his words, the full implementation of the Minsk agreement is a major
condition for lifting anti-Russian sanctions.
"I reinforced President Obama's pledge to roll back sanctions when
all of the provisions of Minsk are complete, including the withdrawal of all
weapons and fighters and the return of Ukraine's sovereign border," he
said.
The parties also discussed the case of Ukrainian captive pilot Nadia
Savchenko, who has recently been sentenced by a Russian court to 22 years in
prison.
"Finally, I did raise the case of Nadia Savchenko and
her conviction and her sentencing with hopes that she will be allowed to return
to Ukraine and as a matter of humanitarian interest that this case could be
resolved immediately, as well as all others who are unlawfully detained,"
Kerry said.
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