The US secretary of state has called on Russia “to honour its commitments” and fully restore an oft-violated truce between Moscow-backed rebels and Ukraine’s government forces, saying Washington aims “to restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty”.
Rex Tillerson said on Sunday that “it is necessary for Russia to take the first step to de-escalate the situation in the east part of Ukraine”, pulling back heavy weaponry to lines agreed upon under a two-year-old accord known as the Minsk Agreement.
“We are disappointed by the lack of progress under the Minsk agreement,” he said at a joint briefing with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko after they held talks. “We do call on Russia to honour its commitments.”
He also urged the Kremlin to allow the OSCE, a pan-European security body, to carry out their responsibilities.
