"Is Putin trying to diffuse the Ukraine crisis?" PBS NewsHour 5/7/2014
Excerpt
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): Russian President Vladimir Putin made some surprise statements today over the crisis in Ukraine. This afternoon, he called on pro-Russian separatists to postpone their planned secession vote on May 11. He announced that he has withdrawn Russian military forces from Ukraine’s border, and he even offered conditional support for national elections in late May, which he had previously rejected.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, Russian President (through interpreter): I want to underline that the planned presidential elections in Kiev are a move in the right direction, but they won’t solve anything if all of the citizens of Ukraine don’t understand how their rights will be guaranteed after these elections are held.
JUDY WOODRUFF: A White House spokesman said this afternoon that there is no evidence that Russian troops have pulled back, and the U.S. imposed further economic penalties on Moscow.
To help us walk through what these new developments mean, I’m joined by Angela Stent. She’s director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies at Georgetown University. She has served in the State Department and at the National Intelligence Council. And Stephen Cohen, he’s professor emeritus of Russian studies and politics at New York University and Princeton University.
No comments:
Post a Comment