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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was in Kiev Tuesday in an effort to ease the crisis
in Ukraine. He urged Moscow to stop threatening Ukraine
and offered the new Ukrainian government financial aid.
Kwon Soa has the details. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Kiev Tuesday with
an aim to build a relationship with the country's new leadership and show Ukrainian citizens
his support. He also accused Russia of an "act of aggression"
in Crimea, but said he is not looking for a confrontation.
"Here in the streets today, I didn't see anybody who feels threatened, except for the potential
of an invasion by Russia, so I would hope that President Putin, who you know if, who
is insisting against all evidence everywhere in the world about troops being in Crimea
that they are not there,
that he will step back and listen carefully that we would like to see this de-escalated."
In Washington, President Barack Obama dismissed Russia's President Vladimir Putin's justifications
for the military forces on stand-by and said they were a "pretext" to invade further in
Ukraine.
Back in Kiev, Kerry offered an economic and technical loan package worth one billion U.S.
dollars, to assist Ukraine's new government. The package requires congressional approval
for implementation. The United States also plans to send technical
advisors to Ukraine to get the country's economy back on track.
John Kerry's visit to Ukraine did not last long, and afterward he flew to Paris for a
meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the first between the two since the
unrest in Ukraine erupted. Russia had declined an invitation for a meeting
between Ukrainian and Russian officials at the same venue.
Kwon Soa, Arirang News.