The Associated Press quotes Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko from a dinner hosted by the Atlantic Council on the scheduled meeting between President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin:
In remarks earlier at the dinner, organized and hosted by the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank, Poroshenko called for more trans-Atlantic unity, solidarity and effective cooperation on strategic communication to help Ukraine settle the conflict in its east. “This is not a question of Ukraine’s survival; this is a question of global survival,” he said.
U.S.-Russian relations deteriorated after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014. The U.S. and other Western countries imposed sanctions on Russia over the annexation and over claims that Moscow is supporting an insurgency in eastern Ukraine with troops and arms.