The WSJ reports,"the Kremlin said Monday it respects the secession referendum in eastern Ukraine and hopes for a "civilized implementation" of the results through talks between Kiev and representatives in the east.
Pro-Russian separatists declared victory in Sunday's vote, ratcheting up tensions between the West and Moscow. In its first comments since the referendum, the Kremlin appears to challenge the West and Kiev's standpoint that it was illegitimate. (Read the latest updates on the crisis in Ukraine.)
The Kremlin said in a statement that Moscow welcomes all possible efforts to start negotiations between Kiev and separatist regions with the involvement of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe".
"Moscow views with respect the expression of the will of the people of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and expects that the practical implementation of the outcome of the referendums will be carried out in a civilized manner without any recurrence of violence, through dialogue between representatives of Kiev, Donetsk and Luhansk," the statement said.
Ukraine's acting president Oleksandr Turchynov said that Moscow is aiming to sabotage May 25 presidential elections and accused the Kremlin of supporting the unrest that has swept the eastern region.
EU foreign ministers were set tomodestly expand sanctions on Russiaon Monday. They were united in condemning the referendum, with Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt calling the ballot outcomes "fake figures from a fake referendum" and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier saying they "can't be taken seriously."
Soon after the Kremlin statement was released, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov read it aloud during a live television broadcast. Mr. Lavrov said that Moscow sees no sense in a new round of four-way meetings akin to the Geneva talks in April between Russia, Ukraine, the U.S. and the EU, saying the Kiev government instead needs to directly negotiate with representatives of its eastern regions.EU diplomats have said in recent days the bloc will add more than a dozen Russian officials and pro-Russia separatists to the bloc's sanctions list and go after several Crimea-based companies that benefited from Moscow's annexation of the region. Speaking on his way into the meeting, U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague called on the bloc to have ready a new phase of broader economic sanctions on Russia, saying they could be needed after Ukraine's presidential elections.
