U.S. Department of State refused to recognize the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic as terrorist organizations. Thus, the Department of State said the militants are just "very dangerous armed separatists." This statement was voiced by Marie Harf, a spokesperson for the Department of State.
Also, the Office reported that the United States and NATO do not seek confrontation with Russia and consider it as one of the major partners, in particular, in the fight against terrorism.
In addition, Harf stressed that the Department of State has repeatedly called on both Russia and the militants to fulfill the Minsk agreements – to observe a truce, to free the hostages, in particular Nadiya Savchenko, and refrain from violence. However, the spokesperson for the Department of State refused to recognize the activity of militants as terrorism.
At the same time, the United States Department of State has issued a warning statement to the American people regarding trips to the eastern Ukraine.
The Department of State suggests that the Americans refrain from the trips to Donetsk and Luhansk due to the fact that these regions are controlled by the pro-Russian separatists. As noted by the Foreign Ministry, their mood has become more and more anti-American.
The warning also notes that after the ceasefire agreement was signed, there was a de-facto division of the territories controlled by the Ukrainian military and militants with numerous checkpoints.
Earlier, the U.S. Department of State noted that if Ukraine had had nuclear weapon, it would not have saved the country from the Russian aggression, but exacerbated it.
