This is a clip from "The Attempted Siege of Donetsk I"
Jen Psaki of the U.S. Department of State was questioned about the situation in Ukraine at the Daily Press Briefing.[32] Associated Press correspondent Matt Lee said:
It looks like people, the separatists from Donetsk are gearing up for a big, a last stand, and that the Ukrainian authorities are doing the same, around these last little enclaves in the east and I'm wondering... to date do you believe that either or both, or neither side, has shown any inclination to heed the call for restraint and for, you know, trying to minimise, or prevent at all, civilian casualties?
You were presented here at the briefing yesterday with some graphic photos, I don't know if they could be authenticated or not but I mean, have you expressed concern to authorities in Kiev and also to the Russians for whatever influence they can have with the separatists, about things like that?
July 7, 2014 - RT's Gayane Chichakyan with pictures from Kondrashovka[33]
Psaki replied:
Well, one, I mean, we, in general the Ukrainian security forces have sought to minimise casualties, among the Ukrainian population, during their security operation. There have been numerous reports on the contrary, Russian backed separatists using privately owned buildings, as firing positions. We've also seen a great deal of exaggerated and outright false claims from Russian sources throughout the crisis in Ukraine. So certainly we would encourage all sides to minimise civilian casualties and we've also seen the Ukrainian government make efforts to do just that themselves.NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen spoke to the press from outside the White House:
If Russia were to intervene further in Ukraine, or if Russia continues to destabilise the situation in eastern Ukraine, Russia will be met by broader and deeper economic sanctions that would really hurt the Russian economy. .. I strongly regret that armed gangs of separatists didn't respect that ceasefire, but I think that President Poroshenko deserves all support for his efforts to find a peaceful solution.[34]Inside the White House, Press Secretary Josh Earnest also spoke about Ukraine and Russia:
As we have said all along, that the economic costs that can be imposed on Russia, for their failure to respect the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine, is most effective if we can work in close collaboration with our partners... So the President has been working very closely with our allies to ensure that we are working in close coordination to further isolate Russia if necessary. So what we are doing is watching very closely whether or not President Putin is heeding the urgings of the international community to stop the transfer of heavy weaponry and materiel from the Russian side of the border, to separatists on the Ukrainian side of the border. We've been urging President Putin to play a constructive role in encouraging those separatists to lay down their arms, and we will be continuing to evaluate his performance when it comes to those metrics...[35]
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