The United States has confirmed that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will make his first official visit to Kyiv on July 9 and hold talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
The State Department said on July 5 that Tillerson will also meet with “young reformers from government and civil society” in the Ukrainian capital.
During his visit, the secretary of state will “reaffirm America’s commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, while encouraging the government of Ukraine to continue implementing reforms that will strengthen Ukraine’s economic, political, and military resilience,” a statement said.
The Ukrainian president's office said on July 4 that Poroshenko will discuss with Tillerson ways to strengthen relations between Kyiv and Washington and further coordinate efforts to counter Russia's actions against Ukraine.
Moscow illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 and has been backing separatists in the country's east in a conflict that has killed more than 10,000 people since April 2014.
Tillerson's visit to Kyiv will come after a planned meeting between the U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on July 7 in Germany, on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit.