Kerry says Russia sanctions could end if Putin takes right steps
By Lesley Wroughton LONDON (Reuters) - Russia has made constructive moves in recent days towards reducing tensions in Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday and raised the possibility that Washington could lift sanctions if Moscow keeps taking positive steps. Speaking in London, Kerry said the United States and Europe could lift sanctions within days or weeks if President Vladimir Putin keeps taking steps to ease tensions and lives up to commitments under ceasefire accords to end the Ukraine conflict. "These sanctions could be lifted in a matter of weeks or days, depending on the choices that President Putin takes," Kerry told reporters. "Their sole purpose here is to restore the international norm with respect to behavior between nations," to ensure respect for borders, sovereignty and rights, he said. In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Barack Obama was expected to sign legislation by the end of the week authorizing new sanctions on Russia over its activities in Ukraine. The bill, passed by Congress on Saturday, seeks to keep the pressure on Putin by authorizing sanctions on Russian weapons companies and investors in its high-tech oil projects, and to boost the Ukraine government with military aid. [ID:nL1N0U01HV] Obama would have to decide, based on political, economic and other considerations, whether to impose the new sanctions. He has said he does not want to take new steps that are not synchronized with European partners. EASING OF SANCTIONS? State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said there was no discrepancy between Kerry's comments and the White House announcement over possible new sanctions."Russia has a choice. There are specific steps they can make to implement the Minsk protocols," Psaki said, referring to the Sept. 5 ceasefire deal reached in the Belarusian capital. "They can do that. That's in their power, and if they do that, obviously that will have an impact on the actions we take," she told reporters in Washington.Psaki said the United States viewed reports of a decrease in violence in eastern Ukraine as a positive step and an opportunity for a lasting political solution. "But I don't want to overstate that," she said. "And that's one of the reasons he (Kerry) also reiterated ongoing concerns we have," she said at a news briefing. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Tuesday hailed a brief period of calm in which there was no shooting in eastern Ukraine as a positive signal in a peace plan. [ID:nL6N0U02LH] The United States and Europe imposed sanctions against Russia after its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and Kremlin backing for armed pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine's eastern regions. Moscow's actions have provoked the worst crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War. Asked about the collapse of the Russian rouble, Kerry said: "There are a lot of combined factors, but the sanctions were clearly intended to invite President Putin to make a different set of choices." The rouble plunged as much as 11 percent against the dollar on Tuesday in its steepest intraday fall since the Russian financial crisis in 1998. Kerry said the weakening of the currency was not only due to the impact from Western sanctions but also reflected other factors such as the fall in oil prices and the Russian economy. (Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu. Editing by Guy Faulconbridge, Stephen Addison and Howard Goller)
