Kerry to meet Lavrov for talks on Ukraine crisis

Kerry to meet Lavrov for talks on Ukraine crisis

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet his Russian counterpart later for talks in Geneva on the Ukraine crisis, BBC News reports.

The talks come ahead of a new UN report documenting human rights violations by Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia armed groups.

Kerry is also expected to call for a transparent inquiry into the killing of a Russian opposition politician. Boris Nemtsov is believed to have been working on a report detailing the presence of Russian troops in Ukraine before he was shot in Moscow last week. His allies have accused the Kremlin of involvement, but Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the murder as "vile" and vowed to find the killers.

The BBC says Kerry will be pressing Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for an investigation into not only who pulled the trigger, but who ordered, funded and coordinated the murder.

Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said eight soldiers had been injured over the weekend by rebel shelling, while a separatist spokesman said Ukraine's armed forces had also fired mortar rounds near Donetsk.

Both sides have begun pulling back some heavy weaponry from the front line - one of the conditions of the ceasefire agreement signed in the Belarusian capital Minsk last month.

Monitors from the OSCE security group have reported weapons movements on both sides but say it is too early to confirm a full withdrawal.

Speaking at the UN Security Council on Friday, OSCE envoy to Ukraine Heidi Tagliavini said the current situation was at a "crossroads" where the risk of further escalation remained high despite "encouraging signs".

A U.S. official travelling with Kerry told reporters it was "too soon to tell" if the ceasefire would lead to an end in violence.

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