Right Sector actions threaten Geneva deals implementation - Russian FM

The Kiev authorities’ inability to stop violence of the Right Sector far-right ultranationalist organization prevents the agreements on Ukraine reached last week in Geneva from being implemented, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told US Secretary of State John Kerry by phone on Monday.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Lavrov drew Kerry’s attention to the fact that actions of the Right Sector and other ultranationalists have already led to human deaths.
Russia’s top diplomat urged the de facto Ukrainian authorities to “stop arrests and free activists of the protest movement in the southeastern Ukrainian regions”.

“Inability and unwillingness of the Kiev authorities to put an end to violent actions of the Right Sector jeopardize the implementation of provisions of the Geneva Statement by Russia, the United States, the European Union and Ukraine of April 17,” he said.

“The minister urged the secretary of state to influence Kiev, to prevent hotheads there from provoking a bloody conflict, to prompt the current Ukrainian leadership to strictly abide by commitments it undertook, which would make it possible to start de-escalation of the situation,” the Russian Foreign Ministry stated.

“The Russian side specially noted the necessity to organize a nationwide dialogue in Ukraine as soon as possible, including the launch of a constitutional reform with full-fledged participation of all basic political forces and all regions of the country,” it said.
The heads of the Russian and American foreign policy departments agreed to continue contacts on the Ukrainian problems.
The Geneva Statement, adopted after last Thursday’s meeting on Ukraine, in particular envisions that all illegal armed formations should be disarmed in Ukraine, all administrative buildings unblocked and all protesters except for those who committed serious crimes pardoned.

A coup occurred in Ukraine and new people were brought to power amid riots in February, whom Moscow does not recognize as Ukraine's legitimate leaders.
The crisis deteriorated when Crimea, where most residents are Russians, refused to recognize the legitimacy of the self-proclaimed Ukrainian leaders and reunified with Russia on March 18 after a referendum two days earlier in which it overwhelmingly voted to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation.

After Crimea’s accession to Russia, which Kiev does not accept despite Russia’s repeated statements that the Crimean plebiscite conformed to the international law, protests against the new Kiev authorities erupted in Ukraine’s Russian-speaking southeastern regions, with demonstrators taking control of some government buildings and demanding referendums on the country’s federalization.