U.S. envoy backs fresh ceasefire in east Ukraine

The U.S. special envoy on Ukraine on Tuesday backed a fresh ceasefire there to coincide with the start of the school year, a day after talks with a Kremlin official, France 24 reported citing AFP.

"I know it's very high on the agenda in the Normandy process which is to have a ceasefire for the back-to-school season," said Kurt Volker, referring to the talks involving France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine, according to France 24.

"It seems like a very good idea, we would obviously fully support that and hope the sides could do that," he told the Baltic News Service during a visit to Lithuania.

Read alsoNormandy Four leaders issue joint statement following phone talksVolker, a former envoy to NATO who was appointed last month to lead US diplomacy on the Ukraine crisis, described as "constructive" his first meeting Monday with Kremlin aide Vladislav Surkov.

"Where I think we agreed is that the current situation, the status quo, is not good for anybody," he said.

Read alsoDeputy minister on Volker-Surkov meeting: I believe decision on Donbas has been taken"What we need to do is to take a fresh look at how to increase security in Ukraine for the people that live there."

Volker was due in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Wednesday to join U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis in talks with senior Ukrainian government officials.

As UNIAN reported earlier, U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations Kurt Volker on Tuesday met in Minsk with his Russian counterpart, Putin's aide Vladislav Surkov. Following the meeting, Surkov said the sides discussed "fresh ideas" and proposed "novel approaches" to the Donbas settlement.