President Trump has pledged to cooperate with leaders of Russia, Ukraine and other nations in order to restore peace in war-torn Donbass, the White House announced following the conversation.
"We will work with Ukraine, Russia, and all other parties involved to help them restore peace along the border," Trump said, as cited in the statement.
According to Poroshenko's spokesman Svyatoslav Tsegolko, both presidents expressed readiness to "explore additional steps to enhancing the strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United States."
Meanwhile, RIA Novosti political analyst Alexander Khrolenko has provided his reasons why the fighting in the southeast of Ukraine has intensified shortly after the new US president has been sworn in.
"Kiev is burning out its non-core assets," reads his article for RIA Novosti.
"However the worst will happen when all the social aggression accumulated for years by the Ukrainian population due to all the Ukrainian draw-backs spills within the country. Having understood this and without farther waiting for any shootout in the center of Kiev, the prudent Ukrainian leader has launched predominantly infantry attacks in Donbass in order to get rid of the most brutal radical and nationalists," Khrolenko suggests.
He further elaborates that, on the one hand, there is UK, which continues its active support of Kiev's military ambitions by sending its troops to get "involved in secret exercises in Ukraine." It has even deployed its HMS Diamond destroyer to the Black Sea with the announced purpose to "help protect 650 British troops" who are involved in these secret exercises.
However Brussels, he says, has realized that NATO's support of Kiev threatens serious consequences. NATO does not consider Ukraine's accession into the alliance. Moreover, the new US administration intends to concentrate on its internal problems and joint fight with Russia against the international terrorism.
Hence the West openly pays no intention to the expectations of the Ukrainian leaders.
"Ukraine's aim to prevent a possible rapprochement between Russia and the US, Russia and the West appears unachievable. The intensification of the situation on the "Ukrainian fronts" arises our of Kiev's reluctance to admit new geopolitical realias," he further suggests.
The provocation in Donbass, he says, has not got any support of the US administration, so Kiev will be forced to go further. However its choice and arsenal are scarce. Hence, sooner or later, Kiev 'will be compelled to return' to the Minsk accords, he finally states.
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