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                 Ukrainian, US Presidents to Meet in Washington

   by VOA News

   Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is in Washington Thursday for
   talks with President Barack Obama and to give an address to lawmakers.

   Poroshenko, who declared a cease-fire with pro-Russian rebels in
   eastern Ukraine on September 5, is widely expected to press U.S.
   officials for direct military supplies beyond the $70 million promised
   by Washington late last month.

   The Obama administration has so far stopped short of supplying lethal
   aid to the Kyiv government, choosing instead to focus on punishing
   Moscow with wide-ranging economic sanctions for supporting the rebel
   movement.

   Authorities say nearly 3,000 people have died in the fighting, which
   has paralyzed daily life in eastern Ukraine and pushed Western
   governments to impose sanctions on Russia.

   Meanwhile, the international watchdog Human Rights Watch is calling on
   the United States to urge Ukraine to stop human rights violations by
   its forces in the country's east.

   The rights group has accused both sides in the conflict of carrying out
   indiscriminate acts that have killed and injured civilians and
   destroyed civilian property.

   On Wednesday, Ukraine ordered its armed forces to maintain "full combat
   readiness" near the Russian border, after new fighting and reports of
   at least 12 more fatalities further strained an already-shaky
   cease-fire with pro-Russian separatists.

   The casualties were the first reported since Ukraine's parliament voted
   Tuesday to grant rebels temporary self-rule in the parts of the Donetsk
   and Luhansk regions already under rebel control.

   That temporary rule concession and a broad amnesty for many rebel
   fighters were Ukraine's strongest public peace overtures since
   separatists launched their rebellion against Kyiv's rule five months
   ago.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/ukraine-us-presidents-to-meet-in-wash
   ington/2453846.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/ukraine-us-presidents-to-meet-in-washington/2453846.html