US envoy Kerry sees hope for end to Ukraine conflict

US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed hope on Thursday 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 on Wednesday.

“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 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.

– Big Warsaw hopes –
Kiev hopes to agree new assistance in Warsaw that could upgrade its outdated and underfunded armed forces.

Friday’s summit will also focus in part on Kiev’s tortuous peace process with the pro-Russian insurgency leaders.

The eastern revolt has killed nearly 9,500 people and left many of Ukraine’s most important coal mines and steel mills under rebel control.

Washington has turned a deaf ear to Ukrainian pleas to supply them with offensive equipment, but is funding the modernisation of its armed forces’ commands and training.

Obama is concerned that overt offensive support would only further infuriate Putin and complicate US efforts to work with Russia on pivotal issues such as the Syria war.

– Radar and sanctions –
Last week, Ukraine did receive 14 long-range US radar systems that should help its army detect and destroy rebel rockets.

Kiev was also bolstered by the European Union’s decision last week to extend by another six months punishing sanctions against Russia for its role in Ukraine.

But efforts led by Germany and France to end the fighting have so far produced few results.

Kerry also met Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman to check on Ukraine’s progress on stamping out the corruption that brought down a previous government in April.

Ukraine is meant to clean up graft and improve governance in order to fulfil its ambition of applying for European Union membership by 2020.