UKRAINE-CRISIS/FORUM-NULAND/ZANNIER Senior US official warns Russia of "more costs" if Minsk deal is violated

Record ID: 141221

  • Title: UKRAINE-CRISIS/FORUM-NULAND/ZANNIER Senior US official warns Russia of "more costs" if Minsk deal is violated
  • Date: 12th September 2015
  • Summary: KIEV, UKRAINE (SEPTEMBER 12, 2015) (REUTERS) U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE VICTORIA NULAND WALKING ONTO STAGE, GREETING FORUM PARTICIPANT, GETTING SEATED FORUM PARTICIPANTS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE VICTORIA NULAND, SAYING: "First of all that it's the Yalta European Strategy Conference - and it reminds us that some day this conference needs to return to that great Ukrainian city." FORUM PARTICIPANTS APPLAUDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE VICTORIA NULAND, SAYING: "With regard to peace and security and the Minsk process and the future of Crimea - we've been very clear that sanctions will stay in place until Minsk is fully implemented. If and when Minsk is fully implemented, including return of Ukraine sovereignty of its border, we can begin to roll back some sanctions, but if Minsk is further violated there will be more costs and we will push with our European partners for that. And with regard to Crimea - sanctions stay in place on Crimea unless and until its sovereignty is returned to Ukraine." FORUM POSTER ON WALL (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE VICTORIA NULAND, SAYING: "The most important thing now is to take this moment of relative quite and to turn it into a full withdrawal of weapons. We are six months behind, what's happened now was supposed to happen in the first couple of days of Minsk. We now need to see those weapons pulled back verifiably and we need to move on to a real election in the Donbass under Ukrainian law and with full OSCE verification." FORUM PARTICIPANTS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE ORGANISATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE (OSCE), LAMBERTO ZANNIER, SAYING: "On the ground it's very difficult to define it, we see fighters who define themselves Russians, who deny having formal links with Russian armed forces. We see amounts of equipment compared to what we saw at the beginning of the crisis - there is much more military equipment that is coming from somewhere." FORUM PARTICIPANTS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE ORGANISATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE (OSCE), LAMBERTO ZANNIER, SAYING: "Because we have no significant access to the border - we have never really actually seen this equipment physically crossing the border, but we see numbers of equipment present in that area, that are large, that are consistent with the types of equipment that the Russian forces have and we came to the conclusion that there is some kind of ... we see presence of large amount of ammunition, so there is a continuing strengthening of the capacity of the fighters on that side." MAN ASKING QUESTION FORUM IN PROGRESS
  • Embargoed: 27th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ukraine
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA39UVWCNVH5H6CVL94V0CUYFRI
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland warned Russia on Saturday (September 12) of "more costs" if it violates the Minsk peace agreement on Ukraine.
    Speaking at the 12th Yalta Economic Strategy gathering of Ukrainian and the world political and business elite, Nuland expressed hope that the forum's original venue - the resort of Yalta in the Russian-annexed Crimea - would again host the forum in the future.
    "First of all that it's the Yalta European Strategy Conference - and it reminds us that some day this conference needs to return to that great Ukrainian city," said Nuland addressing the participants of the forum now held in Kiev.
    She warned Moscow against violating the Minsk agreement and said sanctions against Russia would not be lifted until the Crimean peninsula is returned to Ukraine.
    "With regard to peace and security and the Minsk process and the future of Crimea - we've been very clear that sanctions will stay in place until Minsk is fully implemented. If and when Minsk is fully implemented, including return of Ukraine sovereignty of its border, we can begin to roll back some sanctions, but if Minsk is further violated there will be more costs and we will push with our European partners for that. And with regard to Crimea - sanctions stay in place on Crimea unless and until its sovereignty is returned to Ukraine," Nuland said.
    She stressed the importance of arms withdrawal and holding free and fair local elections in the rebel-controlled territories.
    "The most important thing now is to take this moment of relative quite and to turn it into a full withdrawal of weapons. We are six months behind, what's happened now was supposed to happen in the first couple of days of Minsk. We now need to see those weapons pulled back verifiably and we need to move on to a real election in the Donbass under Ukrainian law and with full OSCE verification," Nuland said.
    In line with the Minsk blueprint, President Petro Poroshenko announced Kiev would go ahead with local elections in Ukraine on Oct. 25 in a step intended to result in stronger powers being delegated to the regions. Rebels in the east said they will hold their own poll, but did not specify the date.
    OSCE Secretary-General Lamberto Zannier who also addressed the forum in Kiev, said the monitors on the ground in eastern Ukraine have noticed an increase in the amount of military equipment in the possession of separatists.
    "On the ground it's very difficult to define it, we see fighters who define themselves Russians, who deny having formal links with Russian armed forces. We see amounts of equipment compared to what we saw at the beginning of the crisis - there is much more military equipment that is coming from somewhere," Zannier said.
    He added monitors working in the separatist-controlled territories have also noticed a significant build up of rebel armed forces there.
    "Because we have no significant access to the border - we have never really actually seen this equipment physically crossing the border, but we see numbers of equipment present in that area, that are large, that are consistent with the types of equipment that the Russian forces have and we came to the conclusion that there is some kind of ... we see presence of large amount of ammunition, so there is a continuing strengthening of the capacity of the fighters on that side," Zannier said.
    Both Ukrainian and rebel forces have blamed each other for repeated ceasefire breaches but both sides are now broadly respecting a new ceasefire that came into effect on Sept. 1, according to international monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
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