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Ukrainian FM Says Tillerson Pledges U.S. Support Against 'Russian Aggression'

RFE/RL March 07, 2017

WASHINGTON -- Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin says U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has assured him that Washington will continue to support Kyiv in its standoff with Russia.

Klimkin made the comments outside the State Department on March 7 following a meeting with Tillerson, the former ExxonMobil CEO who now serves as President Donald Trump's top diplomat.

"He assured me that the United States would consistently continue to support Ukraine in its struggle against Russian aggression, that Ukraine is a key partner of the U.S. in the region, that the U.S. would also consistently support Ukraine on its path of reforms," Klimkin told reporters.

Trump suggested during the election campaign that he would consider lifting sanctions imposed on Russia by his predecessor, Barack Obama, in response to its seizure of Crimea from Ukraine and the Kremlin's support for separatists in the country's east.

But Tillerson and other senior U.S. administration officials have publicly voiced a tougher stance since Trump's inauguration on January 20, saying that Russia must return Crimea to Ukraine and de-escalate violence in eastern Ukraine.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the meeting.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said in a statement after the meeting that Tillerson told Klimkin the U.S. sanctions against Russia would remain in place until "aggression is ceased," until the Minsk peace deal to end fighting between Kyiv's forces and Russia-backed separatists is implemented, and until Moscow returns to Kyiv control of Crimea and separatist-held areas of eastern Ukraine.

Klimkin, who described his talks with Tillerson as a "very good meeting," was due to testify later on March 7 before a U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee hearing that was focused on Russia.

Ambassadors from Georgia, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland are also scheduled to testify at the Senate committee hearing.

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-says- us-tillerson-pledges-support-vs- russia-aggression/28356188.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.