John Kerry in Sochi on a fence mending mission with Vladimir Putin

#JohnKerry #Russia #Crimea #VladimirPutin US Secretary of State John Kerry would be visiting Sochi on a fence mending mission with Russian President Vladimir Putin as indicated in news.sky.com dated 11 May 2015.
John Kerry would be meeting not only Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the Black Sea resort of Sochi but also President Putin with the intention of fixing relations that have been soured by the Ukraine and Syria crises.

This would also be Kerry’s first trip to Russia since the Ukraine conflict erupted in April 2014 and in which Russia has seized control of Crimea. As a result, Western nations have accused Russia of supporting separatists in Ukraine. Even now, despite a ceasefire being in place, there are sporadic clashes between government and rebel forces in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Of course, Moscow continues to deny the claims.
So far, more than 8,000 people are believed to have died in the conflict.
In the opinion of the Russia's foreign ministry, there are hopes that the visit of Kerry would help to normalize bilateral relations since global stability is largely dependent on it. As per reports, the subjects of Yemen and Iran could also feature in the discussions.

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