Sunday, July 9, U.S. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson will visit Kiev, where he will hold talks with President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.
The visit will take place in the fulfillment of agreements reached earlier during the meeting Poroshenko with the President of the United States Donald trump in June in Washington.
“In pursuance of the agreements of presidents of Ukraine and USA on 9 July in Ukraine with the visit the U.S. Secretary Rex Tillerson. In Kiev, the head of foreign policy Department of the USA will be received by President Petro Poroshenko to discuss the issues of strengthening of strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United States and continue coordination of efforts in countering Russian aggression against Ukraine,” – said before the press service of the President of Ukraine.
The U.S. state Department reported that Tillerson during his visit to Kiev intends to confirm the commitment of the Washington territorial integrity of Ukraine and to discuss the progress of reforms in the country. “The Secretary will reaffirm the US commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and calls on the government of Ukraine to continue reforms aimed at strengthening economic, political and military stability,” said the American foreign Ministry.
In addition to the President of Ukraine, the Secretary of state also held meetings with representatives of government and civil society, scheduled and statements to the media.
According to the Agency “Interfax-Ukraine”, during the visit, any documents will not be signed, although both sides are working on separate agreements that may be signed later, during a visit to Ukraine of the American Ministers.
On the eve of visit to Kiev R. Tillerson became aware of the purpose of the American party, Kurt Volker (Kurt Volker) special representative of the USA to Ukraine. It is expected that C. Walker will already be included in the composition of the American delegation, which will arrive on 9 July, led by Secretary of state.
In Kiev welcomed the appointment of this candidate, drawing attention to the fact that Mr. Walker is well-versed in the Ukrainian theme. “I welcome the US administration’s decision on the appointment, Kurt Volker, the special representative on Ukraine”, – wrote the head of the Ukrainian state in the microblog in Twitter. He called the decision “an important and timely step in order to end the Russian aggression and restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine, including Crimea”.
It is expected that Walker will represent the U.S. in negotiations on settling the situation in Donbas, and can also be brought to the Minsk process.
The US state Department have said that Rex W. Tillerson while gathers information and forms their own view on the issue of settlement in Ukraine. It is not excluded that during negotiations in Kiev, he will announce specific proposals for the participation of the American side in the settlement process.
For the Ukrainian side, these negotiations are important because the Secretary of state will arrive in Kyiv immediately after the summit of “Big twenty”, where was held the first talks between the presidents of Russia Vladimir Putin and the United States Donald trump, as well as a separate meeting of foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Secretary of state Tillerson. It is known that the issue of settlement in the East of Ukraine, the parties discussed, and then to Kiev it is important to hear the position of the state Department on this issue.
