WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Samantha Power will visit Ukraine from June 10 to 12 to meet top Kiev officials as well as monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to discuss the ongoing conflict in the country, the US Mission to the UN announced in a statement on Friday.
“US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power will travel to Ukraine next week, from June 10 to 12,” the UN statement read.
Ambassador Power is scheduled to meet with senior Ukrainian government officials, members of parliament, civil society members, internally displaced people, OSCE monitors as well as students, according to the statement.
She is also expected to tell Ukrainian nationals about the importance of Kiev’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty.”
Power once again accused Russia in the statement of hostile actions in eastern Ukraine and “occupation of Crimea.”
Crimea seceded from Ukraine and reunified with Russia in March 2014 following a referendum, in which more than 96 percent, of the peninsula's electorate who voted in favour of joining Russia.
Kiev forces have been fighting against independence supporters in Ukraine’s eastern regions since April 2014, while western countries have blamed the unfolding of the conflict on Moscow. Russia however, has repeatedly denied any involvement in Ukraine’s internal matters, and has called on the diplomatic resolution of the conflict.
In February 2015, Kiev and independence supporters from Ukraine’s eastern regions signed a ceasefire deal, brokered by Germany, France and Russia. The agreement stipulated ceasefire and withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the contact line. The opposing sides have repeatedly traded blame for violating the truce.
