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dipsydoodle

(42,239 posts)
Thu Apr 17, 2014, 04:47 AM Apr 2014

Ukraine: diplomats meet in Geneva in bid to ease crisis - live coverage.

Source: Guardian


Meanwhile, the talks in Geneva have started. Julian Borger is there covering for the Guardian. He has just sent this:

c. 9.37 BST

The EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, met the Ukrainian foreign minister, Andrii Deshchytsia, last night. This morning the US secretary of state, John Kerry, met Ashton and Deschytsia separately and has just started a bilateral meeting with Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister.

Lavrov arrived at about 10am Geneva time in the Intercontinental Hotel, the scene of last year's successful Iran nuclear talks, where all today's negotiations will take place. It is not clear whether Deshchytsia and Lavrov will meet separately before the plenary session of the talks begins at 11am.

After meeting Kerry, Deshchytsia said that he came with "optimism and goodwill", but those two qualities appear to be in short supply today in Geneva, where all sides are playing down expectations.

Kerry and Ashton are pushing Deshchytsia to stress how far Kiev is prepared to go in offering local rights and fiscal autonomy to the provinces short of embracing the federalism that Moscow is asking for. Kiev and the west see that as a veil for partition.

The talks are due to wrap up around 3pm, when there will be some form of press conference though it is not clear who will take part, and what there will be to say.



Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/17/ukraine-diplomats-meet-in-geneva-in-bid-to-ease-crisis-live-coverage



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Ukraine: diplomats meet in Geneva in bid to ease crisis - live coverage. (Original Post) dipsydoodle Apr 2014 OP
As if this were a dipolmatic problem Demeter Apr 2014 #1
Too bad the talks couldn't have begun before people were being killed . . . another_liberal Apr 2014 #2
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
1. As if this were a dipolmatic problem
Thu Apr 17, 2014, 06:58 AM
Apr 2014

It's a civil war, people. Civil wars don't get stopped by diplomats talking to each other.

 

another_liberal

(8,821 posts)
2. Too bad the talks couldn't have begun before people were being killed . . .
Thu Apr 17, 2014, 07:41 AM
Apr 2014

But, better late than never.

(sigh)

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