You're reading: Kerry threatens with new sanctions against Moscow over Ukraine

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has issued a statement in which he criticized the Russian authorities for the escalation of the situation in the east of Ukraine.

“Instead, in plain sight, Russia continues to fund, coordinate, and
fuel a heavily armed separatist movement in Donetsk,” Kerry said.

“And in the weeks since this agreement, we have seen even more
violence visited upon Ukrainians. Right after we left Geneva,
separatists seized TV and radio stations that broadcast in the Ukrainian
language. The mayor of Sloviansk was kidnapped the very day after the
parties committed to end the violence and intimidations. Two days ago,
one journalist was kidnapped and another went missing, bringing the
total number of kidnapped journalists into the double digits. That same
day, two dead bodies were found near Sloviansk. One of them was a city
councilmember who had been knocked unconscious and thrown in a river
with a weighted backpack strapped to him.

In his words, only one side, one country, is keeping its word: “From
day one, the Government of Ukraine started making good on its
commitments – from day one. From day one, Prime Minister Yatseniuk has
kept his word. He immediately agreed to help vacate buildings. He
suspended Ukraine’s counterterrorism initiative over Easter, choosing
de-escalation, despite Ukraine’s legitimate, fundamental right to defend
its own territory and its own people. From day one, the Ukrainian
Government sent senior officials to work with the OSCE, in keeping with
the agreement, to send them to work in regions where Russia had voiced
its most urgent concerns about the security of Russian speakers and
ethnic Russians… He directly addressed the concerns expressed by the
Russians, and he did so on day one.”

In this regard, he warned that if Moscow does not change its position
on Ukraine, then the United States will be ready to impose more
sanctions against Russia.

“Let me be clear: If Russia continues in this direction, it will not
just be a grave mistake, it will be an expensive mistake,” Kerry said
adding that they were “ready to act.”