Deal Reached to Ease Tensions in Ukraine but Little Else

U.S. Secretary of State Kerry said today the lengthy four-way meeting on Ukraine had produced metrics for measuring how quickly the situation there de-escalates, but added that there is still more work to be done.

All of this, we believe, represents a good days work, he said after the meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. But on the other hand, this days work has produced principles. And it has produced commitments.

And it has produced words on paper. None of us leave here with the sense that the job is done because the words are on the paper.

He repeated that all sides had committed to refraining from the use of violence, to getting all illegal forces within Ukraine to vacate and to supporting an international monitoring mission by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is already under way.

And Kerry said that if Russia does not show demonstrable progress in these arenas by the weekend, the United States and European Union will start imposing further sanctions on the country.

This is just the beginning. It depends on the good faith of the parties in following through. And were going to watch that very, very closely, he said.

Kerry added that Ukraine had agreed to an inclusive constitutional drafting process that maintains respect for minority groups and takes into consideration the possibility for more autonomy within Ukrainian regions, some of the chief requests that Russia had made of Ukraine before the meeting, which included the United States, Russia, Ukraine and European Union.

Ukraines leaders indicated that they are prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to address regional demands for more autonomy, for local self-government, for the protection of minority rights, Kerry said.

But in an indication of how Russia may seek to skirt the red lines laid out in todays agreement, Kerry also criticized Russias takeover of the Ukrainian region of Crimea as illegal. Russia continues to insist, however, that the annexation was done in the name of defending the Russian-speaking population of that area.

And Kerry added that while the parties convened in Geneva to move away from what is a spiraling-downwards confrontation, he noted that Crimea was not a topic of discussion Thursday.

We have not given up but today we did not come here to talk about Crimea, he said.