Russia cannot continue to pledge its support to deescalating unrest in Ukraine and at the same time fuel that turmoil, a U.S. top official says.
“You cannot dress yourself like a firefighter and behave like an arsonist,” Victoria Nuland, the top U.S. diplomat for Europe, told CNN in an interview. “We are very concerned about the Russian hand behind the destabilizing things that we’re seeing in eastern Ukraine.”
Ms Nuland referred to a dossier what Ukrainian officials say are images of well-equipped gunmen operating in eastern Ukraine who look similar to photographs of Russian forces taken in Crimea, Russia and during Russia's 2008 invasion of Georgia. Nuland said that the “bearded man” who has allegedly appeared both in Georgia and eastern Ukraine is “clearly a GRU agent,” referring to the main intelligence body of the Russian military.
Victoria Nuland accused Moscow of failing to comply with the Geneva agreements which were signed by the USA, Ukraine, Russia, the EU last week.
“We have not seen the kind of major de-escalation that we’re looking for, nor have we seen serious Russian efforts to help the OSCE [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] or to speak out against separatists since Geneva."
It is to be recalled that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Russia to foster the objectives of the Geneva accord on Ukraine in a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
