Senior US official in Moscow to bolster Ukraine peace plan

NEW HOSTILITIES?

US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland waves as she attends a news conference after talks with the Russian Foreign Ministry officials in Moscow, Russia, May 18, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry urged Kiev to speak directly with the rebels, whom the Ukrainian government has branded "terrorists".

Karasin was quoted by Tass news agency as saying Moscow had the impression that Kiev was preparing a new military offensive in East Ukraine. Nuland dismissed such a possibility.

"There is no indication from our own information or from my consultations in Kiev that anybody on the Ukrainian side ... has any intention of launching new hostilities," she said.

"Any new hostilities ignited by separatist forces with Russian support would also be a violation of Minsk."

Nuland said she set some hope with four working groups formed this month to bring Kiev and the rebels together to tackle security, humanitarian and other aspects of the crisis.

She said she had also discussed on Monday allowing the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to monitor the whole Russia-Ukraine border and to inspect convoys crossing from Russia into the rebel-held territory.

Nuland has been strongly criticised by Russian state media in the past over her support for pro-democracy activists in Kiev during mass street protests that toppled Ukraine's president Viktor Yanukovich in February 2014.

However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov welcomed Nuland's visit on Monday as a further sign that Washington was seeking to engage with Moscow again after a prolonged chill in ties.

"When President Putin was meeting with Minister Lavrov and Secretary of State Kerry... it was mentioned that a closer dialogue ... was needed," Peskov told reporters.