Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák met U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington, D.C. on Thursday to discuss the situation in Ukraine in particular. Kerry also briefed Lajčák on fresh U.S. sanctions against Russia, which were approved not long after the two officials met.
“They informed me about them (the sanctions),” said Lajčák, but he was reluctant to shed more light on the measures. He noted that the U.S. will announce them shortly. In the interim, 20 more individuals and a Russian bank became the target of a new round of U.S. sanctions as unveiled by President Barack Obama on Thursday. Lajčák and Kerry also discussed the need to send an OSCE mission to Ukraine in order to make sure the information on whatever is going on in the country is objective. Kerry also enquired about the issue of a reverse gas flow through Slovakia to Ukraine. EU leaders are set to discuss at their summit starting in Brussels on Thursday an extension of the list of individuals linked to the unrest in Crimea who are facing a freeze on bank accounts and a travel ban to the EU. Economic sanctions against Russia are unlikely, however, as European leaders are aware of a possible damage to the interests of EU member countries should such measures - and Russia's countermeasures - be adopted. “Sanctions are a way to get the situation back to normal; hence I consider the approach of their intensification to be correct. We can't turn a blind eye to the redrawing of maps in Europe without approval from the countries concerned ... that warrants a response. It's our priority to respond diplomatically and through political talks,” said Lajčák.
