Russia asks U.S. to contribute to Ukraine ceasefire

Russia hopes the United States can dissuade Kiev from launching fresh offensives against pro-independence insurgents in eastern Ukraine's Donbass region, a top Russian diplomat said Tuesday.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin told the Interfax news agency that Moscow was trying to convince Washington to do so and that the United States was also starting to understand the necessity of implementing the agreements reached in Minsk in February.

Karasin told visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland that Washington has been able to influence Kiev to start a sustainable dialogue with the self-proclaimed Lugansk and Donetsk republics.

Any attempt to secure long-term solutions to the Ukraine crisis is doomed to fail in the absence of direct dialogue with Donetsk and Lugansk, he said, noting that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk have both refused to speak directly with representatives of the Donbass region.

Meanwhile, Karasin said that Russia saw no need for adding the United States to the Normandy format, a quartet mechanism composed of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine. Washington could participate in the peace process on a bilateral basis, he said.

"Moscow and Washington now have an opportunity to contact each other, exchange information and look for constructive and mutually acceptable ways to positively influence the situation," he said.

Nuland's visit to Moscow follows her May 14-16 trip to Ukraine's capital Kiev. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also visited the two countries last week. Endi