The US Secretary of State John Kerry, told Russia that sanctions would be relaxed if the ceasefire was upheld, in a meeting with Russia’s president on Tuesday.
Mr Kerry held eight hours of high level talks with Russia’s President Vladmir Putin, in the US official’s first visit to Russia since the Ukraine conflict began, reports Agence France Presse.
The two diplomats promised to work harder to convince Ukraine’s conflicting factions to uphold the February cease-fire, whilst also urging Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko to refrain from trying to reclaim Donetsk Airport, which was taken by separatist militants earlier this year.
Commenting on such a move, Mr Kerry said,
“We would strongly urge him to think twice not to engage in this kind of activity.”
Mr Kerry also pledged to relax some of the economic sanctions on Russia when the ceasefire was fully administered.
Speaking at a press conference with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Mr Kerry said,
“We didn’t come here with an expectation that we were going to define a specific path forward.. or have a major breakthrough. We came here specifically to have a very full and open dialogue.”
Mr Kerry held eight hours of high level talks with Russia’s President Vladmir Putin, in the US official’s first visit to Russia since the Ukraine conflict began, reports Agence France Presse.
The two diplomats promised to work harder to convince Ukraine’s conflicting factions to uphold the February cease-fire, whilst also urging Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko to refrain from trying to reclaim Donetsk Airport, which was taken by separatist militants earlier this year.
Commenting on such a move, Mr Kerry said,
“We would strongly urge him to think twice not to engage in this kind of activity.”
Mr Kerry also pledged to relax some of the economic sanctions on Russia when the ceasefire was fully administered.
Speaking at a press conference with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Mr Kerry said,
“We didn’t come here with an expectation that we were going to define a specific path forward.. or have a major breakthrough. We came here specifically to have a very full and open dialogue.”