Russia, EU, U.S. due to meet in Geneva to discuss Ukraine

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia, the United States, the European Union and Ukraine are due to meet in Geneva to try to reduce escalating tensions over eastern Ukraine, BBC News reports.

Deep disagreement over the issue has led to the worst crisis between the U.S. and Russia since the Cold War.

Three pro-Russian activists have been shot dead in a clash with Ukrainian forces in Mariupol, near the Azov Sea, Ukraine's interior minister said.

The West says Russia is aiding the pro-Russian activists occupying buildings. They attacked a military unit in Mariupol (in the far south of Donetsk region) overnight and troops opened fire, killing three, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in a Facebook post on Thursday, April 17.

According to Avakov, 13 of the attackers were wounded and so far 63 have been detained. He said none of the interior ministry troops had been killed.

U.S. President Barack Obama has warned Russia against support for further action by armed pro-Russian groups.

"What I have said consistently is that each time Russia takes these kinds of steps that are designed to destabilize Ukraine and violate their sovereignty, that there are going to be consequences," he said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's military operation against pro-Russian groups has hit obstacles.

Called an "anti-terrorist" operation by the Kyiv government, it started on Tuesday and is designed to dislodge pro-Russia gunmen from local authority buildings in a swathe of cities and towns in eastern Ukraine. Pro-Russian activists want referendums on greater autonomy for the south-east or the right to join the Russian Federation.

In several districts, Ukrainian troops met vehement opposition on Wednesday from pro-Russia supporters, who object to the new government in Kyiv.

In the city of Kramatorsk, six military vehicles were commandeered on Wednesday by gunmen, who disarmed the Ukrainian soldiers and sent some of them home on buses. One Ukrainian officer said he had not "come to fight" and would never obey orders to shoot his "own people".

The Geneva meeting is the first time that foreign ministers from the U.S., the EU, Ukraine and Russia will sit down for talks since the crisis began.

A U.S. official, speaking as Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Geneva, stressed that Russia must "take this opportunity to de-escalate" or face a tightening of sanctions.

Russia, which strongly opposed the ousting of Ukraine's pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych in February, has proposed a new constitution which devolves more power to the regions.