MOSCOW, April 21 (UPI) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Ukraine of violating the peace accords agreed upon last week in Geneva between Russia and Ukraine.
"The most important thing now is to prevent any kind of violence. This is the first point of the Geneva agreement, the first demand to all those confronting each other in Ukraine. But in this and other aspects, the Geneva agreement is not being implemented and moreover, steps are being taken above all by those who seized power in Kiev that crudely violate the Geneva agreement," said Lavrov in a press conference Monday.
Lavrov said the firefight that broke out near the town of Sloviansk is proof that the government in Kiev is not interested in controlling extremists. The new mayor of the pro-Russian-controlled town of Sloviansk has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to send peacekeeping troops. The increasing violence is threatening to dissolve the attempts at the peace accord between the two countries.
The U.S. is warning that more sanctions and further isolation from the west could be in store for Russia if they do not stop stirring unrest in the eastern region of Ukraine.
[HuffPost Live]
