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Trapped in a cycle of violence in eastern Ukraine
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Kiev, Ukraine (CNN)Eastern
Ukraine is in a "dire" security situation, and Russia is failing
"miserably" in its seriousness to negotiate an end to the crisis, a
senior U.S. State Department official said Thursday.
The
official, who spoke to CNN on board U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry's plane en route to Kiev, also warned of a "grave acceleration of
the fighting on the ground" in Ukraine.
The
official said Russia is "failing the test miserably" as to whether it
is serious about negotiations. The Russian people are "paying for this
imperial adventure," the official said.
Kerry is due to meet with Ukrainian leaders, including President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
His
visit comes amid a worsening of the conflict between Ukrainian forces
and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine that is claiming a
growing number of civilian lives.
French
President Francois Hollande announced that both he and German
Chancellor Angela Merkel will also travel to Kiev on Thursday to meet
with Poroshenko.
They will then go on to Moscow on Friday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kiev
and its Western allies accuse Russia of fostering the conflict by
sending military personnel and equipment over the border into Ukraine.
Moscow denies the claims and says it supports a peaceful resolution of
the crisis.
NATO considers new command and control units
As the diplomats shuttle back and forth, NATO defense ministers are meeting in Brussels, Belgium.
As
they gathered, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said ministers
would decide on a new measure in response to the rising tensions to the
alliance's east: establishing command and control units in six eastern
member nations.
"In Ukraine, violence
is getting worse and the crisis is deepening. Russia continues to
disregard international rules and to support the separatists with
advanced weapons, training and forces," said Stoltenberg.
The
new proposal would mean setting up dedicated teams in Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria and Poland, said NATO spokesman Tony White.
Each
team would have 40 to 50 staff officers, half of them locals, in order
to improve NATO training and facilities in each country.
"These
units will make it easier to deploy NATO forces rapidly," said
Stoltenberg. "They will support collective defense planning. And help
coordinate multinational exercises."
Russia is unlikely to welcome the prospect of more NATO forces stationed close to its western border.
Putin last month called the Ukrainian army "a NATO legion"
that has the geopolitical goal of containing Russia rather than
defending Ukraine's national interests, according to Russia's state-run
Tass news agency.
'Defensive lethal aid'
It
emerged this week that the United States is now considering sending
lethal aid to help the Ukrainian government fend off attacks from
pro-Russian rebels in the eastern part of Ukraine.
This
assistance would come in the form of so-called defensive lethal aid,
which could include anti-tank, anti-air and anti-mortar systems.
Asked
if France would join the United States in providing such equipment to
the Ukrainian military, Hollande said "the option of negotiation, of
diplomacy, cannot be extended indefinitely."
But
the French President emphasized that first, both he and Merkel were
working together toward a proposal they hope will be acceptable to all
parties in the conflict.
"We want to develop a German and French negotiation document, along with Ukraine and also with Putin, he said.
"If
we succeed, we will have avoided an escalation of the conflict. If we
fail, and this hypothesis remains, what will be said? That France and
Germany will have done everything they could do to take action to
resolve the conflict."
Urgently needed aid
Kerry
announced Thursday that the U.S. government intends to provide $16.4
million in new humanitarian aid to help Ukrainians affected by the
violence.
"The funding will be used to
support the Ukrainian government's response to the crisis caused by
Russia's aggressive actions and will also help alleviate the suffering
of people in conflict-affected areas of eastern Ukraine, including
Donetsk and Luhansk," a State Department statement said.
"Many of these people are extremely vulnerable and unable to leave."
The
new aid will include shelter, blankets, bedding, warm clothing and
other support, the statement said. It takes the total provided to
Ukraine by the United States since the conflict broke out last spring to
$38 million, it added.
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