Trump To Speak To Poroshenko Amid Renewed Violence In Eastern Ukraine
U.S. President Donald Trump is due to hold his first talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko as an upsurge in fighting has killed dozens in eastern Ukraine over the past week.
The scheduled phone call -- which will take place in the evening Ukraine time on February 4 -- comes as the death toll hit at least 35 following a week of renewed clashes between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed separatists.
Ukraine has expressed concern that Trump could roll back some sanctions imposed on Russia after its 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and in retaliation for Moscow's military, economic, and political support for separatist militants in eastern Ukraine.
Trump has repeatedly expressed hope for improved relations with Moscow. The phone call comes a week after Trump spoke to Putin.
On February 2, the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, expressed "strong condemnation of Russia's actions" in eastern Ukraine and warned that Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia will not be lifted until Crimea is returned to Kyiv.
"Crimea is a part of Ukraine. Our Crimea-related sanctions will remain in place until Russia returns control of the peninsula to Ukraine," she said.
Some 9,800 people have been killed since the conflict in eastern Ukraine erupted in April 2014.
Based on reporting by AFP and Interfax
The latest from our correspondent, Christopher Miller, in Avdiyivka:
After Weeklong Bombardment, Devastated Ukrainian City Awakens To 'Relative Calm'
AVDIYIVKA, Ukraine -- Residents of this front-line flashpoint city awoke to relative calm on February 4 after a week of heavy artillery bombardments that chewed up lives and bodies and caused President Petro Poroshenko to declare a state of emergency.
The lull comes ahead of a phone call between Poroshenko and U.S. President Donald Trump that is scheduled to take place around 11:45 p.m. Kyiv time. Ukraine has looked for support from Trump, who has said he wants to improve relations with Russia.
Pavlo Malykhin, the city’s head of civilian and military affairs, told RFE/RL he believed the welcomed lull was due to a local cease-fire brokered by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s special monitoring mission to Ukraine and the Joint Center for Control and Coordination, which includes Ukrainian and Russian military officers.
At a makeshift humanitarian center beside the city’s soccer stadium, there were almost as many emergencies services workers as residents. It was a marked change from every other day this week, when thousands poured in to receive rations and warm themselves.
