The line of separation from the pro-Russian rebels is near Debaltsevo in the eastern part of the country.
The US and Russia will hold security talks next month as the Russian military builds up on its border with Ukraine.
The meeting on January 10 will focus on NATO and Russian military activity as well as rising tensions over Ukraine. The meeting will be held as part of the Strategic Security Dialogue that President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in June.
Russia can put its concerns on the table when we sit down to talk, and we will put our concerns on the table with Russia's activities as well. A National Security Council spokesman told NBC News that they would not discuss the Allies and partners without their allies and partners.
There will be areas where we can make progress and areas where we will disagree.
NATO allies will join additional talks on Jan. 12 and 13 according to the spokesman.
On December 7, 2021, the United States President Joe Biden will hold a secure video call with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the White House's Situation Room, amid Western fears that Moscow plans to attack Ukraine.
Biden and Putin spoke for two hours via secure video amid a backdrop of national security matters.
For months, Ukraine has warned Washington and European allies that thousands of Russian troops were massing along its eastern border. The annexation of the Black Sea peninsula caused an uproar and led to sanctions against Moscow.
Biden warned Putin that an invasion of Ukraine by the U.S. would cause economic and political repercussions.
Putin told Biden that the bid to join NATO by Ukraine must be denied in exchange for assurances that Russian troops wouldn't attack.
Since 2002, Ukraine has sought acceptance into the world's most powerful military alliance, where an attack on one member country is considered an attack on all of them.
NATO's eastward expansion has been characterized by the Kremlin as a direct security threat because it could result in NATO troop movements on Russia's borders.
