Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. on Sunday decried the overnight attack on a pro-Russian checkpoint in Ukraine that has broken a fragile Easter truce.
“We are outraged by the attack on the checkpoint,” Ambassador Sergey Kislyak said on “Fox News Sunday.”
At least two people were killed near Slaviansk in Eastern Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Kislyak said the attack suggests Ukraine is not doing enough to implement a deal signed in Geneva aimed at ending tensions with Russia.
“Unless they do so in a faithful way, there will be no solution to this crisis,” he said, adding that only when Ukraine disarms anti-Russia militiamen will pro-Russian groups stand down.
{mosads}The ambassador said new statements by Ukrainian Prime Minster Arseniy Yatsenyuk suggesting Vladimir Putin is trying to recreate the Soviet Union were “false.”
Yatsenyuk made the comments in an interview to be broadcast on NBC’s “Meet the Press” later on Sunday, according to a transcript.
“That is a false notion,” Kislyak said. “We are not going anywhere.”
He said Russia just wants Ukraine to resolve internal problems in a way that is fair to the Russian-speaking minority and that Russia wants a “friendly neighbor.”
The ambassador said the U.S. should drop talk of increasing sanctions because that will not serve to encourage cooperation from Russia.
“We don’t believe the language of sanctions is a good one to talk in the 21st century,” he said. “We can withstand pressures.”