Rustavi 2
March 11, 2014
US Secretary of State John Kerry to visit Georgia
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Georgia within few weeks, Georgia`s State Minister for European Integration Alexander Petriashvili said.
The minister said Kerry`s visit has already been scheduled and the State Secretary is expected to arrive in Georgia until late May.
As reported, the U.S. and the Georgian sides are working now to agree details of the upcoming high-level visit.
“This kind of dynamics with U.S. is very important for us. During these last months, the visit of our government to Washington, then actual possibilities to have bilateral relations within various frameworks, and them again the high-level visit to Georgia – all this is a very serious sign,” – Mr. Petriashvili said.
================================================
Rustavi 2
March 11, 2014
John Kerry rejects offer to talk with Vladimir Putin
US Secretary of State John Kerry has rejected an offer of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin until Moscow engages with US proposals to tackle the crisis in Ukraine.
Mr Kerry told his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that Moscow`s military intervention in Crimea had made any negotiations extremely difficult.
US officials say there will be little to talk about if the referendum on Crimea`s future goes ahead.
“Secretary Kerry has been in close contact with Foreign Minister Lavrov over the course of the last couple of weeks. He spoke with him as recently as Saturday and he, we put out a readout of that, I don`t have any calls to predict but I expect they will be in close contact over the next 24-48 hours,” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
Psaki said there was always a possibility of a meeting but repeated that the U.S. needs to see concrete evidence that Russia is prepared to engage on the diplomatic proposals.
“When Secretary Kerry spoke with Foreign Minister Lavorv this weekend, he made clear that he would welcome further discussions focused on how to deescalate the crisis in the Ukraine if and when we see concrete evidence that Russia is prepared to engage on these proposals,” she said. “He (Kerry) never shies away from hopping on a plane or having an in-person meeting, but we want to ensure that that is undertaken with seriousness on the other end as well.”
The referendum is to be held on Sunday. Ukraine and the the West say that the vote is illegal.
Source