Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Ukraine on Tuesday carrying $1 billion in American loan guarantees and other help for the new government there — but apparently not much hope that Russia will back down.
Kerry met with Oleksandr Turchynov, the acting president, and visited what is known as the Shrine to the Fallen, in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, to pay his respects to fallen protesters.
Senior State Department officials told reporters on Kerry’s plane that Russian President Vladimir Putin could still calm the crisis that was inflamed when Russian troops took over the Crimea region of Ukraine.
But the officials said there was little sign that that would happen.
Besides the loan guarantees, meant to help Ukraine deal with reduced energy supplies from Russia, the United States is offering technical help to Ukraine’s central bank and help conducting free and fair elections.