WASHINGTON--President Donald Trump met with Ukraine's president on Tuesday and expressed support for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine but said nothing about Russia's role, while the U.S. government added to sanctions over Moscow's actions.
Trump sat down in the Oval Office with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko for talks on the same day the U.S. Treasury Department added two Russian officials and 36 other individuals and entities to its list of those facing sanctions over Moscow's activities in Ukraine.
Trump's meeting with Poroshenko was officially called a "drop-by" visit after the Ukrainian leader's separate session with Vice President Mike Pence. With TV cameras rolling, Trump said "a lot of progress has been made" between the two countries and that the pair had "very, very good discussions."
The sanctions target Ukrainian and Russian officials and companies that U.S. authorities accuse of helping Russia tighten its grip on the Crimean peninsula, a part of Ukraine annexed by Russia in 2014 in a move Western leaders denounced as illegal.
Poroshenko called Trump, whose first five months in office have been dogged by a controversy over whether his presidential campaign team last year colluded with Russia, "one of the most reliable supporters" and "strategic partners" for Ukraine.
In a statement issued after Trump's meeting, the White House said the discussion centered on "support for the peaceful resolution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine and President Poroshenko's reform agenda and anti-corruption efforts."
A separate White House statement issued after Pence met with Poroshenko said the vice president highlighted continuing U.S. support for implementing the Minsk agreement, the 2015 accord aimed at ending Russian support for separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine. Last week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the United States could back away from that agreement to avoid being "handcuffed" by the policy. Trump did not mention the accord.
Before Trump's meeting with Poroshenko, the Treasury Department made its announcement about sanctions over Russia's actions in Ukraine that were being taken to keep pressure on Moscow to reach a diplomatic solution in Ukraine. A Treasury Department statement said, "U.S. sanctions related to Crimea will not be lifted until Russia ends its occupation of the peninsula."
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement "there should be no sanctions relief until Russia meets its obligations under the Minsk agreements."
