US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has told Russia it must take the first steps to reduce tensions in eastern Ukraine and that US and EU sanctions would remain in place until Moscow reversed course in the region.
In surprisingly blunt language just two days after US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Germany, Tillerson said Russia should use its influence with separatists in eastern Ukraine to fully restore an oft-violated truce, end harassment and attacks on international monitors and pull back heavy weaponry to lines agreed upon under a two-year-old accord known as the Minsk Agreement.
He said a primary goal of the US “is to restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty” and that would be “required in order for the US and Russia to improve our relationship.”
“It is necessary for Russia to take the first steps to de-escalate the situation in the eastern part of Ukraine,” Tillerson told reporters at a joint news conference in Kiev with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. “This is necessary for us to make any movement.”
“We do call on Russia to honor its commitments that were made under the Minsk accords and to exercise influence over the separatists in the region that they have complete control over,” he said. “The US and EU sanctions on Russia will remain in place until Moscow reverses the actions that triggered these particular sanctions.”
Tillerson’s tough talk clearly pleased Poroshenko, who has long complained about Russian interference in his country’s east and has watched nervously as Trump’s administration has sought to improve ties with Moscow.
He thanked Tillerson for the continued US commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and expressed deep appreciation for his “symbolic and timely visit immediately after the meetings at the G20 in Hamburg,” where Trump met with Putin.
Poroshenko was especially complimentary of Tillerson’s decision last week to appoint a special envoy for Ukraine negotiations, former US ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker, who is widely considered to be a hawk on Russia.
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