Secretary of State John Kerry met with Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday in Moscow, a meeting that stretched to one in the morning, according to Kerry. Although the session centered on Syria and restoring the “cessation of hostilities”, spokesperson John Kirby noted that Kerry also raised the issue of Ukraine and “acceleration of negotiations on implementation of the Minsk agreements.”
Early Friday before meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, Kerry remarked on his time with Putin the previous evening before Putin had to “get on an airplane and fly somewhere”:
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To date, Russia has shown no sign of backing off that country’s annexation of the Crimea and has continued to give “political, military and financial support” to rebels in Ukraine according to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in remarks last week (via Reuters):
In 2014, Kerry called Russia’s actions in Ukraine an “incredible act of aggression” and said the international community should “isolate” Russia:
“You just don’t in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped up pre-text,” Kerry said.
Kerry did not elaborate Friday on the thoughts of Putin for which he expressed appreciation.
