克里訪問烏克蘭，與波羅申科會談

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, while the leaders of France and Germany announced they are also heading to Ukraine with a new peace proposal.

Ahead of Kerry's arrival, a senior State Department official announced the U.S. is providing Kyiv with an additional $16.4 million in aid to help civilians affected by fighting between Ukraine's military and pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.

The official also said the U.S. continues to evaluate whether to provide "defensive lethal weapons" to Ukraine, but he said there were concerns whether Ukrainian forces had adequate training to handle such equipment.

The official added that Washington is talking to its European partners about imposing additional sanctions against Russia in the near future, if Russian interference in Ukraine continues.

Violence in eastern Ukraine escalated after last week's breakdown of the latest round of peace talks aimed at ending the nine-month rebellion.

French President Francois Hollande said Thursday he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit Ukraine to present a "new solution to the conflict based on the territorial integrity of Ukraine." President Hollande and Chancellor Merkel will discuss the plan with President Poroshenko before heading to Moscow for talks with Russian leaders, said the French leader.

No details of the peace initiative were immediately available.

In Brussels, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance was set Thursday to strengthen its defenses near Russia's borders in response to Moscow's "aggressive actions" in Ukraine.美國國務卿克里星期四在基輔與烏克蘭總統波羅申科舉行會談。法國和德國領導人也宣佈要訪問烏克蘭，提出新的和平建議。

美國國務院一名高級官員在克里抵達基輔之前宣佈美國將向烏克蘭再提供價值1640萬美元的人道援助，幫助在烏克蘭軍隊和親俄反政府武裝衝突中受害的烏克蘭東部平民。

這位官員還說，美國繼續評估是否爲烏克蘭提供“用於防禦的殺傷性武器”，但是他表示，有關方面擔心烏克蘭軍隊在使用這類上是否接受過充分訓練。

這位官員補充說，華盛頓正在與歐洲夥伴國家討論在近期內對俄羅斯採取更多制裁措施，如果俄羅斯繼續在烏克蘭的干預。

最近一輪旨在結束九個月叛亂的和談在上星期破裂後，烏克蘭東部暴力升級。

法國總統奧朗德星期四說，他和德國總理默克爾將訪問烏克蘭，提出“以烏克蘭領土完整爲基礎的新的解決衝突辦法”。奧朗德說，他和默克爾星期四將與波羅申科討論磋商這一計劃，然後前往莫斯科與俄羅斯總統普京舉行會談。

目前還不知道和平建議的具體內容。

在布魯塞爾，北約祕書長斯托爾滕伯格宣佈北約星期四加強俄羅斯邊界附近的防禦，以迴應莫斯科在烏克蘭的“侵略行動”。