Putin Condemns Kiev’s Use of Force Against Civilians

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned the Kiev authorities’ attempts to use their army against civilians in a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Kremlin said Friday, RIA Novosti reported.

 “Putin and Merkel have exchanged opinions on the critical situation in Ukraine, including Kiev’s authorities not wishing to implement Geneva agreement of April 17, and Putin firmly condemned Kiev’s regime attempts to use the army against civilians in Southeastern Ukraine,” the Kremlin press office said.

Putin and Merkel emphasized the importance of holding multiparty talks on Russian gas deliveries and transit, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said.

 “Both leaders [Putin and Merkel] emphasize the importance of holding soon talks on the security of Russian gas delivery and transit issues, with the participation of Russia, the European Union, and Ukraine,” Ushakov said.

On Thursday, a spokeswoman for EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said that the venue and date of upcoming trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission on the security of natural gas supplies had yet to be agreed upon.

Oettinger invited the Russian and Ukrainian energy ministries to participate in the talks, originally proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in a letter to European leaders. The Russian Energy Ministry has suggested holding the discussions on April 28 in Moscow.

Russian Defense Ministry ready to discuss Ukraine with Pentagon

Meanwhile, The Russian Defense Ministry is prepared to discuss the crisis in Ukraine with the Pentagon, although it has not received a request for such talks, Gen. Maj. Igor Konashenkov said Friday, according to The Voice Of Russia.

Media reports earlier said that Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel had attempted to contact Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to discuss the situation on Ukraine’s border.

Russian Defense Ministry has not received any statements from Pentagon proposing telephone talks between Hagel and Shoigu – Moscow

The Russian Defense Ministry was surprised by reports in the press citing Hagel’s apparent attempts to organize a telephone conversation with Sergei Shoigu, Konashenkov said.

He said that there have been no notices sent to the Russian Defense Ministry recently on Hagel’s desire to speak with Shoigu, and that there is a standard procedure for initiating such conversations that has worked for many years.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirms its readiness to an objective and constructive discussion with (our) American partners to normalize the situation in Ukraine. We believe that direct dialogue between the heads of the military branches of Russia and the US are always a better exchange than through the press, Konashenkov said.

Shoigu announced Thursday that Russia will conduct military drills in response to the developing situation in Ukraine’s southeast, where a special operation has targeted the country’s own citizens.

The Security Service of Ukraine announced Wednesday that a military operation launched by Ukrainian authorities earlier this month against protesters in eastern Ukraine had again entered an active phase, following a temporary suspension after an agreement reached in Geneva last week.

Ukrainian authorities launched the operation to crack down on pro-federalization activists in eastern regions of the country that have been swept by rallies since last month.

Pentagon opposes sanctions on Russia’s arms exporter

The Pentagon has signaled that it doesn’t want the US sanctions against Russia over Ukraine to include Russia’s state-owned arms exporting firm Rosoboronexport as that would mean a halt to supplies of Russian MI-17 helicopters for the Afghan Air Force under a US-Russian deal, the Christian Science Monitor newspaper reports.

R.S