The critical issue during his talks with President Poroshenko was the relentless Russian aggression in the east of Ukraine, Kerry said, saying the conflict in the Donbas had to be settled in a peaceful way.
"We are not looking for confrontation with Russia, and no one is - not President Poroshenko, not the United States, and not the EU,” Kerry said.
“We very much hope that Russia will change its course so that there is a diplomatic solution to the situation. This is what we want.
"Our choice is a diplomatic and peaceful solution to the problem.”
Kerry said Russia should sit down at the negotiating table in order to reach a political solution to the conflict in the Donbas.
He added that "we cannot close our eyes to supplies of tanks coming through the Ukrainian-Russian border in the Donbas.”
“We cannot close our eyes to Russian soldiers who are fighting in the east without insignia, and also that Russia leads the illegal groups of separatists on the battlefield. We cannot close our eyes to modern missiles and modern radar capabilities and other military capabilities in terms of technology, which are being deployed by Russia across the border, the sovereign line... "
Kerry said such actions by Russia violate the Minsk agreements with regard to the need to start the observance of a sustainable ceasefire.
He said that the United States expects Russia to withdraw its troops from eastern Ukraine and release all Ukrainian hostages.
