More clues following Lavrov's claims of a deal on the humanitarian convoy. This from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
From Interfax:
Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov said he believes Ukraine can conduct European integration reforms over a period of five years.
"We have a five-year European integration plan," the Ukrainian parliamentary press service quoted Turchynov as saying in an interview with the Baltic information agency BNS on Monday.
"Ukraine should become a member of the European Union and NATO," Turchynov said, adding that he believes it will be a guarantee against Russia's "aggressive ambitions."
Turchynov said most Ukrainians now understand that Ukraine needs to enter NATO because "it is a way to protect Ukraine."
Dpa quoting Lavrov via Russian news agencies: "As long as Kiev seeks a forceful solution, international efforts...won't have success."
Our Ukrainian Service reports that a smattering of pro-Kyiv activists erected three tents on Prague's Wenceslas Square last night in a demonstration to urge Czech officials to back Ukraine in its ongoing dispute with Russia. Their signs warned of a "Third World War," urged officials to "Stop Putin," and warned, "Crimea today, tomorrow Karlovy Vary?" in reference to the storied Czech spa town and cultural center where many wealthy Russians own property.
A re-upping of a chilling must-read from Scott Peterson of "The Christian Science Monitor" on four church killings in Slovyansk, seemingly by pro-Russian fighters. It begins:
On a warm June morning, a dozen masked, armed men burst into the Church of the Transfiguration in the Ukrainian town of Slaviansk, demanding to know who among its 300 congregants owned the four expensive vehicles parked in front.
Four men stepped forward – the church priest’s two grown sons, Ruvim and Albert Pavenko, and two deacons, Victor Brodarsky and Vladimir Velichko – and were quickly hustled out of the large, Soviet-era edifice, thrust into their cars, and forced to drive away with the rebels. After 35 agonizing days of searching came evidence that all four were dead.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov has downplayed last night's talks, according to Reuters, saying that there were no positive results regarding a cease-fire or political solution to the Ukraine crisis.
He did claim, however, that all issues related to the Russian humanitarian convoy stalled at the border with Ukraine have been resolved, Reuters said.
Moscow has misled before on this issue, though.