Kerry warns Putin: The window to change the course of action is closing

The time allocated for Moscow to change the policy toward Ukraine is running out.

“President Putin and Russia are facing a choice. If Russia chooses the path of de-escalation, we will all welcome such a choice. If Russia does not, the world will make sure that the cost for Russia will only grow”, - Kerry told journalists in Washington. “It will be an expensive mistake”, - he added.

The Secretary of State also accused Russia of full-throated efforts to sabotage the democratic process in Ukraine, Reuters reports.

According to Kerry, Russia is using propaganda to conceal what they are actually trying to do in eastern Ukraine: to destabilize the region and wreck the early presidential elections, scheduled on 25 May, NEWSru.com reports.

Earlier that day the USA president Barack Obama on his visit to Tokyo accused Russia of following neither the spirit nor the letter of the Geneva agreement, not making any effort into deescalating the conflict in Ukraine. Obama lamented that armed pro-Russian activist would not stop the “aggressive actions” in the east of the country, and accused Russia’s government of not trying to stop that. Obama said he was ready to impose new sanctions on Russia.

“As president Obama reiterated earlier today, we are ready to act”, - the Secretary of State emphasized at a media briefing in Washington.

At the same time ITAR-TASS gives certain additions, which the Reuters’ report lacks. In particular, according to the Russian information agency, Kerry also stated that “Russian special services play an active role in destabilization of the situation in Ukraine”. American “intelligence community tells me that Russia’s intelligence and military intelligence services and special operators are playing an active role in destabilizing eastern Ukraine”, Kerry said. According to him, “some of the individual special operations personnel, who were active on Russia’s behalf in Chechnya, Georgia, and Crimea have been photographed in Slovyansk, Donetsk, and Luhansk”.

At the same time the Secretary of State insisted that Ukraine’s government has been following the Geneva agreements “from day one”. “The government of Ukraine started making good on its commitments – from day one”, - he assured.

According to Kerry, the authorities in Kyiv “sent senior officials to work with the OSCE”.

The Secretary of State also stated that the world acknowledged “the right character of the actions of Ukraine’s government”. At the same time, the head of American diplomacy believes that the world sees that Russia “has taken the path of destabilization”.