The United States intends to provide Ukraine with $23 million worth of humanitarian aid for the victims of hostilities in the Donbas. US Secretary of State John Kerry said this on Thursday, July 7, at the joint briefing with the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, regarding the results of the bilateral meeting.

In addition, Kerry noted the progress in the development of the law on elections in the Donbas. “Ukraine has put great efforts in the implementation of the Minsk Agreements and began the process of granting special status [to some areas of the East], decentralization, amnesty, and Ukraine is ready to do more if there will be improvements in the issue of the security,” Kerry said.

He added that the conflict could be ended only through the effective implementation of the Minsk Agreements. “There should be no doubt that we need a real ceasefire for this, and unlimited access for the OSCE to the entire territory of the Donbass, including the border [between Russia and Ukraine], the return of all the hostages, free elections in the Donbas in accordance with the OSCE standards and the Ukrainian Constitution,” Kerry said.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko expressed hope that the position, declared at the Bucharest summit, will be confirmed at the NATO summit currently being held in Warsaw.

“We expect the support of the Alliance. We expect that the positions that have been declared during the Bucharest summit, most important among them that NATO's door is open to any European country, will be confirmed,” the President said.

Kerry arrived in Kiev after a visit to Tbilisi, where he signed an agreement on strengthening military cooperation between the US and Georgia. He is currently at the NATO summit in Warsaw

  Ukraine, USA, Donbas, Minsk agreements, Elections

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