US secretary of state says Russia must honor Ukraine deal

BONN, Germany (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Thursday that Russia must abide by a 2015 deal aimed at ending fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists as the Trump administration searches for ways to work cooperatively with Moscow.

The former Exxon Mobil CEO spoke after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for the first time, in the highest-level face-to-face contact between representatives from the two countries since Trump took office on Jan. 20.

Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, and Russian-speaking separatists in Ukraine’s began protests that escalated into a war, with thousands killed. A deal two years ago known as the Minsk agreement was intended to end the conflict, but skirmishes have continued.

“As we search for new common ground, we expect Russia to honor its commitments to the Minsk agreements and work to de-escalate the violence in the Ukraine,” Tillerson said after talks with Lavrov.

Also Thursday, U.S. Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was set to meet with his Russian counterpart, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan. It was to be first meeting between the two countries’ senior members of the military since Trump was sworn in.