Kerry Meets Serbian FM on OSCE Role in Ukraine Crisis
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday welcomed his Serbian counterpart for talks on the conflict in Ukraine, and called for greater transparency in trying to implement a fragile ceasefire.
Serbia took over the presidency of the multinational body OSCE, which has hundreds of monitors in Ukraine trying to observe whether Russia, pro-Moscow rebels and the Kiev government are sticking by a second truce agreed earlier this month.
"Serbia is taking on an increasingly important role," Kerry said as he met with Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic.
Belgrade's chairmanship of the Vienna-based OSCE came as the world waits to see whether the ceasefire deals reached in the Belarus capital of Minsk will be implemented.
"We will all be looking for accountability in the process of trying to stabilize the eastern part of Ukraine and see if we can't get on a different road," Kerry said.
The Minsk agreements call for monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to be given free access to visit eastern Ukraine, but Western leaders have been angered that observers have been frequently barred from hotspots.
"The OSCE observer status is absolutely critical to our ability to know which side, both sides, are adhering to the agreements," Kerry stressed.
Dacic vowed his country would invest "maximum efforts" and embark on a series of consultations "to bring about peace" in a region which he said stretched from Vladivostok to Vancouver.
"The world is facing this great crisis, and the whole world is watching what the OSCE with its capacities can do in this regard," he said.
The top diplomats were also set to speak about Serbia's application to become a member of the European Union as well as regional stability.
Dacic welcomed the warming of ties with the United States, inviting Kerry to visit his country for the first time as secretary of state for the OSCE ministerial meeting in December.
Kerry's predecessor, Hillary Clinton, traveled to the Serbian capital in October 2012 to push Belgrade to normalize ties with Kosovo and ensure peace in the Balkans.
The disputed status of Kosovo is the main bone of contention still affecting regional ties after the break-up of the communist former Yugoslavia, which collapsed in a series of bloody wars in the 1990s.
Since the Ukraine crisis erupted, Serbia has been trying to balance its obligations towards its European neighbors amid EU accession talks while maintaining good ties with its strong ally, Moscow.
Dacic urged President Barack Obama to also make a historic trip to the Balkan country, saying the last US president to visit was Gerald Ford, who occupied the White House from 1974 to 1977.
Serbia was "extremely joyful and happy" at the prospect of more frequent high-level U.S. visits, Dacic said.
