U.S. President Barack Obama "reaffirmed the strong support of the United States for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity" in a telephone call with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, the White House said June 5.
The two leaders "expressed their deep concern about the recent assault by combined Russian-separatist forces" across the current
line of contact near Donetsk, Ukraine, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.
The call came ahead of the upcoming Group of Seven summit in Germany, where the conflict in Ukraine is expected to be one of the top subjects of discussion.
Obama vowed to continue working with international partners to support Ukrainian reforms, Earnest said.
Also, Obama repeated the U.S. commitment to "a diplomatic resolution" of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, and urged putting continued pressure on Russia and the Moscow-backed separatists to "abide strictly" by the Minsk agreement negotiated in February, he said.
