A senior U.S. diplomat says there should be no sanctions relief for Russia until all foreign forces and equipment have left Ukraine, Kyiv's sovereignty over its border has been restored and all hostages have been released.
"Today there is a peace deal on paper in Ukraine, there is thankfully peace across a lot of Ukraine, but the peace deal is still being violated in key sectors," said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland.
She was speaking at an Aspen Institute conference on trans-Atlantic relations in Berlin on October 9.
A cease-fire agreed on September 5 is still in place, although some fighting has continued, especially in and around the rebel-held city of Donetsk.
In a related development, the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin could meet Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on the sidelines of a meeting of Asian and European leaders in Milan next week.
