GENEVA
The four-party Geneva meeting on the crisis in Ukraine has agreed on taking steps to “de-escalate” tensions as U.S. President Barack Obama appeared cautious over the deal.
“My hope is that we actually do see follow-through over the next several days,” Obama told the press Thursday. “But I don't think, given past performance, that we can count on that.”
"We have to be prepared that we can actually respond to what continue to be efforts of interference by the Russians in eastern and southern Ukraine," he added.
Moscow has denied any role in the Ukraine unrest.
The deal staves off a potentially damaging new round of economic sanctions on Russia’s already hobbled economy even as the U.S. announced earlier Thursday that it will supply Kiev with $6.5 million in nonlethal military assistance.
The meeting of the European Union, the United States, Ukraine and Russia has called on all “illegal” groups in Ukraine to be disarmed and for occupied public places to be vacated.
It comes after reports of military movements in eastern cities similar to what resulted in the annexation of the Crimean peninsula last month.
'Crucial' days ahead
"All sides must refrain from any violence, intimidation or provocative actions,” Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a press conference after the Geneva meeting.
U.S. State Secretary John Kerry called on Russia to use its influence over armed groups in order to convince them to lay down their arms. Kerry warned of additional sanctions on Moscow if it failed to deliver.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia said the next couple of days would be "crucial" since all parties would be required to put in the effort to make tangible progress.
The crisis in Ukraine began in November after Ukraine’s former president Viktor Yanukovych announced he would give up on a trade deal with the EU in favor of closer ties with Russia.
It was followed by mass protests that led to the ousting of Yanukovych and his government.
The situation then intensified due to an "illegal" referendum in Crimea in March and the region's subsequent annexation by Russia.
Pro-Russian protesters in eastern and southern Ukraine seized several government offices in recent weeks. Three were killed and 13 others wounded Thursday as protesters tried to seize a Ukrainian National Guard base in Mariupol on the Sea of Azov.
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