“Russia is engaged in a rather remarkable period of the most overt propaganda exercise that I’ve seen since the very height of the Cold War,” Kerry said. The Secretary added that Russia’s representatives “lied about their activities there to my face and to the face of others on many different occasions.”
Appropriations Committee Chairman Senator Lindsey Graham questioned Kerry asking whether Russia lied about providing weapons and troops to Ukraine. Kerry answered that Russia has “been persisting in their misrepresentations” of military involvement in Ukraine’s embattled eastern provinces.
Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are likely to meet later this week in Geneva, according to statements from the Russian Foreign Ministry. The bilateral meeting will likely include discussion of resolving the Ukrainian conflict as well as the situation in Iraq and Syria.
Russia has repeatedly denied any involvement in the conflict in Ukraine, which has claimed the lives of more than 5,600 people, according to the UN. Moreover, Russia is an active participant in the four-party Minsk agreements responsible for negotiating the withdrawal of heavy artillery from the Donbas region and Ukraine’s shaky ceasefire.