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[AnNahar] U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you knowKerry
Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a
lucky hat,conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State...
on Wednesday warned Russia that sanctions pressure could be intensified over the Ukraine crisis but urged Kiev not to get drawn into "tit-for-tat" measures.
Speaking to news hounds in Gay Paree after holding talks with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Kerry said "the choice is Russia's" as to whether to implement the Minsk agreement that was supposed to bring peace to Ukraine's restive east."restive east". I love it. That's what the writer calls full on artillery duels. Restiveness.
Donbas Militia Commander to artillery commander: Did you fire the counterbattery mission?
AC: Yes, comrade commander. The enemy artillery was being restive, so we fired back.
"The president and I have repeatedly said that if the Minsk agreement is fully implemented, sanctions can be rolled back and if it isn't, pressure will only increase," said Kerry.
Kerry said he had spoken to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko earlier and discussed the "need to continue to take the high road" in terms of sticking to the ceasefire.
It was important "not to fall into the possibility invited by measures taken by Russia to engage in a tit-for-tat process," added the diplomat.
The ceasefire in Ukraine was hanging by a thread after Poroshenko accused pro-Russian rebels of endangering the grinding of the peace processor and ordered troops back to cities in the east of the country ravaged by months of unrest.
Authorities in Kiev also announced they were cutting off central government funds to the rebel-held Donetsk and Lugansk regions, so as not to fund "terrorists."
On the ground, authorities said there had been "intensified" shooting incidents with two soldiers killed and nine maimed in the past 24 hours.