HONOUR PACT: Disappointed by lack of progress under Minsk agreement, says Tillerson -
KIEV: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged Russia on Sunday to take action to ease the bloody separatist conflict in the country’s east, which Kiev and the West believe is being fuelled by Moscow.
“It is necessary for Russia to take the first step to de-escalate the situation in eastern Ukraine,” Tillerson said as he made his first visit as Washington’s top diplomat to Kiev.
“We are disappointed by the lack of progress under the Minsk agreement,” he added at a joint briefing with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko after they held talks.
“We do call on Russia to honour its commitments,” Tillerson said, referring to a peace deal aimed at halting the conflict between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed rebels.
More than 10,000 people have been killed since the pro-Russian insurgency began in April 2014, which Kiev and the West accuse Moscow of orchestrating.
The US and the European Union have imposed sanctions on Russia, though Moscow has denied backing the rebels.
Efforts to secure a peace deal have foundered as the fighting has dragged on, and neither side appears prepared to make concessions.
Tillerson’s visit to Ukraine followed a first face-to-face meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Friday at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.
The conflict as well as Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 have pushed ties between Moscow and the West to their lowest point since the Cold War.
UN chief’s plea: Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday urged Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed rebels to adhere to a ceasefire deal aimed at easing
the bloody conflict in the country’s east.
Guterres spoke to journalists at the start of a meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, while making his first visit to Kiev.
“We know that fighting is still happening. And, of course, our appeal is for a complete ceasefire,” Guterres stressed.
The UN chief specified that he was referring to last month’s agreement on a so-called “harvest ceasefire.”
Brokered by the international monitors, the latest ceasefire agreement went into force on June 24 and was intended to make it possible for local farmers to harvest their crops.
A number of international organisations, including several UN-run bodies, are working to help those caught up in the conflict that has seen some 1.7 million forced to flee their homes.
“You can count on our strong commitment to support humanitarian action to bring some relief to the people that have been displaced,” Guterres said. — AFP
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