Nuland spoke at a briefing following talks with Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov during her three-day visit to Kiev, where the sides addressed the ongoing conflict in the country's southeast.
"The United States deepens our engagement in the Minsk implementation process in lockstep with our European allies and partners, with the EU and particularly with the Normandy powers," Nuland stressed.
The diplomat underscored the security, political and humanitarian aspects of the 13-point agreement worked out by the leaders of Normandy Quartet, comprising of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine, in February. Specifically, Nuland said Washington insists on an all-out ceasefire along the line of contact in Donbas.
During the course of her trip to Ukraine, Nuland said the sides discussed the use of a humanitarian working group to assist local residents, ensuring the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe access along the Ukrainian-Russian border, as well as preparing for free and fair Ukrainian elections.
To date, Washington has been conspicuously absent from the Ukrainian crisis settlement talks. The conflicting sides in the year-long standoff disagree over its participation in the Normandy format talks, with Kiev backing and the Donbass independence supporters opposing the idea.
