U.S. ambassador says Ukraine is fighting two `wars’

U.S. ambassador To Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, said on Tuesday that Ukraine was fighting two wars, one against Russian-backed separatists and another to reform its government and economy.

He said in New York following a flare-up in the conflict in recent days, that Russia was fueling the separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine and sending military equipment across the border.

Pyatt, who has served as Ukrainian ambassador for two years, emphasised that in spite the conflict, Ukraine had made remarkable progress on reforms in line with Western values.

He said this included improving the country’s justice system and revamping its economy.

He also said that Ukraine’s military was now a much more capable force than before and denounced the conflict in eastern Ukraine as a war
of Russian aggression.

He said U.S. did not believe there was a military solution to the rebellion but Ukraine has a right to fight the separatists to preserve its territorial integrity.

Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which is independently observing the conflict, said its personnel were caught in fighting on Sunday and Monday.

It official said one monitor was injured when concrete debris pierced his helmet on Monday.

It said the Ukrainian side had initiated an attack in which two OSCE vehicles were caught in heavy gunfire.