FOREIGN POLICY/STATE/TRUMP PEOPLE/REX TILLERSON/UKRAINE: “U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met Sunday [7-9-17] with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, a visit that telegraphs U.S. support to Kiev after President Donald Trump’s historic meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In an appearance with Mr. Poroshenko in Kiev, Mr. Tillerson said the Trump administration was looking for a fresh solution to the crisis in the country, which is locked in a conflict with separatists in the eastern Donbas region.
The U.S., Mr. Tillerson said, was committed to restoring ‘Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty and integrity,’ adding, ‘It is necessary for Russia to take the first steps to de-escalate the situation in the east part of Ukraine’ by encouraging separatists to pull back heavy weaponry.
Mr. Tillerson traveled to Ukraine with Kurt Volker, the Trump administration’s new point man on the crisis. appointed Friday as Washington’s special representative for Ukraine negotiations.”
-Thomas Grove, “Tillerson Meets With Ukraine President,” The Wall Street Journal online, July 9, 2017 10:37am