US Avoiding Comment on Protests in Ukraine, Kerry Cancels Visit to Kiev

Learning?

As Ukraine turns away from closer relations with the European Union and further into the embrace of Russia, the Obama administration is saying little about it or the resulting street protests, for fear of provoking a fracture with the Kremlin.

Huge street demonstrations in the Ukrainian capital that might have sent U.S. spokesmen to the ramparts just a few years ago have merited only mild and largely noncommittal statements, and a decision by Secretary of State John F. Kerry to skip a planned visit to Kiev this week.