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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Kyiv on Thursday for talks with President Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, and members of the Ukrainian parliament.

"The visit attests to U.S. support for Ukraine. The priority issues to be discussed at the meetings are progress in pushing the reforms in our country and searching for ways to de-escalate the situation in the east," Foreign Ministry spokesman Yevhen Perebiynis told reporters. He also said that French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were expected to arrive in Kyiv later in the day.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande will visit Kyiv on Thursday for a visit; both leaders will fly to Moscow on Friday, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert announced on Thursday, Ukrinform reported.

"Today in the afternoon, Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande will fly to Kyiv where they will meet with President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko," he said. According to Seibert, Merkel and Hollande will visit Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. The focus of their talks will be on the current situation in Ukraine. "Given the escalation of violence in recent days, Federal Chancellor and President Hollande are stepping up their efforts for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine," the German official said.