KYIV: Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has met with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Kurt Volker, in Kyiv to discuss the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
According to a statement posted on Poroshenko’s website, the two men expressed “serious concern” about Russia’s lack of progress in implementing the Minsk agreements during the January 23 meeting.
In a post on Twitter, Volker said he “had a good conversation” with Poroshenko, adding that he will travel to Dubai later this week to meet with Russian diplomats.
Poroshenko’s statement said that the solidification of the cease-fire in eastern Ukraine and the “withdrawal of Russian occupation forces from Ukraine” were now “absolute priorities.”
Kyiv has been fighting against Russia-backed separatists in parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine since early 2014.
Although Moscow denies interfering in Ukraine’s domestic affairs, the International Criminal Court in November 2016 determined the conflict to be “an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.”
The conflict has left more than 10,300 people dead and some 1.6 million people displaced.