The White House announced November 13 that U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will visit Ukraine in early December amid efforts to forge a lasting peace in the war-torn nation.
Biden will meet with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and members of the Ukrainian parliament, as well as non-governmental groups.
"This will be Vice President Biden's fifth trip to Ukraine since taking office in 2009," the White House said.
Biden has spoken by telephone regularly with Poroshenko and Yatsenuk. President Barack Obama has never visited the country.
Ukraine is currently engaged in talks with Russia, France, and Germany seeking to find terms for a lasting settlement of the conflict in the east that has raged since last year with pro-Russian separatists.
Despite a ceasefire agreement which has been in place since February, the conflict has left more than 7,900 people dead.
