 "US Secretary of State John Kerry shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin as they meet at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia")
US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday expressed hope that an end to the Ukrainian conflict was possible and praised Kiev's pro-Western leaders for their commitment to peace.
Meeting President Petro Poroshenko in Kiev, Kerry said Ukraine had made a "good faith" effort to implement its side of the February 2015 truce agreement it signed with Russia in the Belarussian capital Minsk.
Fighting would only stop, however, if Russia halted support for the eastern separatist rebels and allowed the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to fully monitor and enforce a truce, Kerry said.
Washington's top diplomat stressed that President Barack Obama had made this point "very frankly" to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a telephone call yesterday.
"And President Putin indicated that he does have a desire to try to have this process move forward," Kerry said.
Ukraine changed the course of its post-Soviet history by ousting its Kremlin-backed leader in a pro-EU revolution in 2014 that led to a Western-leaning administration.
This was followed by Russia's annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of one of Europe's bloodiest conflicts since the 1990s Balkans wars.
Russia denies either backing the insurgents or plotting their 26-month revolt in a bid to keep the new leaders in Kiev off balance and dependent on Moscow's good will.
Kerry's visit came on the eve of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Warsaw where Poroshenko will seek new military and diplomatic assistance from his Western friends.
And it follows a similar visit to Georgia to express support for another Kremlin foe that has also lost parts of its territory to Moscow-backed separatists.
"The US is and remains Ukraine's key ally on the international arena," Poroshenko told reporters.
"There is a full understanding between us that Russia and the rebels it supports bear sole responsibility for the stalled peace process in the east."
The approaching NATO summit appears to have only further frayed relations between Moscow and the West.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday that Russia's actions in Ukraine meant that "trust is lost" between the two formed Cold War foes.
Russia's foreign ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova countered that it was NATO's recent spike in military activities near its borders that were the main concern.
"There will obviously be an adequate response from us to this, even though this is not our choice," Russian news agencies quoted her as saying during a visit to Crimea.
Kiev hopes to agree new assistance in Warsaw that could upgrade its outdated and underfunded armed forces.
