6/20/2014
West Revives Threat of More Sanctions; Putin Appears to Blame Kiev
Separatists stand guard Thursday in Seversk, in the Donetsk region. Reuters
Russia has begun massing troops near its border with Ukraine again, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said, in what would mark a new escalation of the crisis there as the West revived its threat of more sanctions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to dig in, blaming Kiev for the deepening turmoil. The Kremlin said he told the leaders of Germany and France on Thursday that he was concerned about "the continuing military operation in eastern Ukraine," where fighting has been raging for days.
The statement from Moscow made no mention of alleged troop movements or the threat of further sanctions.
A renewed buildup along the border—weeks after Russia withdrew most of what NATO had said were 40,000 troops positioned there—would mark a setback for Western diplomats. They have been pushing Moscow to support a proposal from Ukraine's new President Petro Poroshenko for a cease-fire with pro-Russia rebels ahead of disarmament and a national dialogue.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO's secretary-general, said Thursday in London that NATO saw "at least a few thousand more Russian troops" deployed to the Ukrainian border as well as troop maneuvers nearby.
"I consider this a very regrettable step backwards and it seems that Russia keeps the option to intervene further," he said. His comments were released by NATO headquarters in Brussels.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, after meeting with his German counterpart in Berlin, said the international community was "prepared to impose additional costs" if Russia didn't reverse course.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande urged Mr. Putin in a joint telephone call to help implement a cease-fire and to make "every necessary effort" to convince armed groups to stop fighting, the French government said.
"Otherwise, new measures will be adopted by the international community that will impact its relationship with Russia," they told him.
The Kremlin said the call was also about ongoing talks over Ukraine's natural-gas bill.
The West's warnings mark a change of tone after several weeks during which it had sought to draw Mr. Putin into a more constructive dialogue.
While the U.S. could ratchet up sanctions at any point, the European Union will have to wait until a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on June 26 and 27. At that point, European officials said, the leaders could add to its existing list of dozens of individuals and two Crimea-based companies subject to an EU-wide visa ban and asset freeze.
The bloc may also start targeting Russian companies in what could quickly prove a significant scaling-up of pressure, diplomats said.
In a more aggressive scenario, the Europeans could decide to impose sanctions against specific sectors of the Russian economy—measures that could eventually range from symbolic steps such as banning caviar imports to broader restrictions such as curtailing defense, financial or energy ties.
While countries such as Germany, with close economic links to Russia, have been resisting sweeping sanctions, officials in Berlin and Brussels have said in recent days that frustration with the Kremlin was growing. Opponents of tougher sanctions "are running out of arguments," one senior official said.
However, European officials said it was more likely EU leaders would give Russia another chance before opting for broader sanctions.
Opponents of sanctions have said they would only escalate the conflict, discouraging Russia from resolving the crisis diplomatically while hurting all countries involved economically.
Russia has long opposed the EU-Ukraine deal, which is to be signed on June 27, with Mr. Poroshenko attending. Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, a Kremlin ally, rejected the deal last year, sparking months of street protests that led to his ouster in February.
That in turn set off the rebellion in Ukraine's predominantly Russian-speaking eastern regions, including Crimea's secession and quick annexation by Russia.
The stepped-up tension follows days of clashes and a mounting death toll.
Early Thursday, Ukrainian forces said they scattered leaflets near the separatist stronghold of Slovyansk, urging rebels to put down their weapons. They refused and opened fire on government troops, a military spokesman said.
The Defense Ministry said four soldiers were killed and 20 wounded. It also claimed that 200 separatists were killed, with many more wounded.
A rebel spokesman said the government attacked with tanks and by aerial bombardment, driving insurgents out of two towns on the outskirts of Slovyansk, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.
In the neighboring Luhansk region—also largely under rebel control—a separatist leader said that fighting was continuing outside the regional capital in the same town where earlier this week, four people were killed and 27 wounded by heavy shelling. Two journalists for Russian state media were among the dead.
Mr. Poroshenko this week offered to declare a temporary, unilateral cease-fire soon, but only after government forces regain control of the country's border, large parts of which remain in separatist hands.
Western diplomats have been pushing the Kremlin to endorse Mr. Poroshenko's plan, potentially by having both countries cooperate to block the irregular fighters and weapons flowing into Ukraine.
"We are in a moment where Russia has a fundamental choice to make," Mr. Lew said in Berlin. "We certainly hope that Russia will take the discussions between President Poroshenko and President Putin seriously and move to a diplomatic resolution."
But Russia so far has declined to go along with Mr. Poroshenko's proposal. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a phone call with his German counterpart on Thursday that Kiev might be using the cease-fire offer as a cover to put down the rebellion rather than engage in a national dialogue, according to the Russian foreign ministry.
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