The gigolo doesn’t scare Putin.
Via Defense One
Last week, John Kerry said that Russia needed to pull back in Ukraine in a matter of “hours, literally.”
But more than 100 hours later, Russia has done no such thing.
The secretary of State delivered the order to de-escalate within hours, paired with a warning of future U.S. action, on Thursday in Paris, after a meeting with France’s foreign minister. “We are in full agreement that it is critical for Russia to show in the next hours, literally, that they are moving to help disarm the separatists, to encourage them to disarm, to call on them to lay down their weapons and begin to become part of a legitimate political process,” he said.
In eastern Ukraine, the country’s military has been locked in a bloody battle with pro-Russian separatists, believed to be armed and funded by the Kremlin, for several months. The fighting continued well into the weekend, many hours after Kerry’s statement.
Unrest raged even as a 10-day cease-fire called by Kiev between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebelsexpired Monday night. When the period of peace began on June 20, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he expected pro-Russian militants to release Ukrainian hostages, shut down their recruitment centers, and give up border checkpoints. None of that has happened. And during the cease-fire, 27 Ukrainian troops have been killed and 69 wounded, according to the country’s foreign ministry.