Editor's Note: The following remarks about Ukraine were made by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry as world leaders gather for the 50th Munich Security Conference.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, with respect to Ukraine, no. The offers of President Yanukovych have not yet reached an adequate level of reform and an adequate level of sharing of the future so that the opposition can, in fact, feel that it could legitimately come to the table and form some kind of a unity government.
Now, we believe unity is important. And we believe that moving towards that is critical. So our message to the Ukraine opposition – that is certainly my message to them that we meet with today – will be the full support of President Obama and the American people for their efforts. We will reinforce their courage and their need to continue to be unified as they press for an adequate level of a reform agenda. But we will also say to them: If you get that reform agenda, if you are able to secure genuine participation and a genuine ability to bring the country together, then we would urge them to engage in that, because further standoff and further violence – or violence that becomes uncontrollable – is not in anybody’s interest.
We also would say to our friends in Russia: This does not have to be a zero-sum game. This is not something where Ukraine should become a proxy and trapped in some kind of larger ambition for Russia or the United States. That’s not what this is about. This is about the freedom of choice for the people of Ukraine, and their ability to be able to define their future without coercion from outside forces. And that’s what we hope to achieve.
