BASEL
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has called on Russia to "rebuild trust" amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
His comments came as he attended a meeting of 50 foreign ministers at the 21st Organization for Security and Cooperation Ministerial Council meeting in the Swiss city of Basel on Thursday.
Kerry said: "We are convinced that Moscow can rebuild trust and relationship if it simply helps to calm turbulent waters."
"The international community is united and condemning the violence that has led to so much needless suffering in Ukraine but the violence continues. Regrettably Russia continues to supply new weapons and increase support for armed separatists," he said.
Russia rejects Western accusations that it is supplying weapons to pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine and blames the west for triggering the conflict in the region.
'End occupation'
Kerry claimed that Russia was failing to comply with its international obligations and accused it of not living up to a truce agreement signed in early September in the Belarusian capital of Minsk.
He urged Russia to withdraw Russian weapons and fighters, release hostages and "end illegal occupation" of Crimea.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said that Russian aggression against Ukraine was not only violating Ukraine's territorial integrity but also undermining international peace.
He called for more decisive measures and concrete progress to identify solutions to emerging challenges.
More than 4,000 people have been killed and about 9,000 wounded in the conflict between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine since mid-April, according to a UN report.
The conflict has also caused massive damage to infrastructure which, the Ukrainian government said in September, would cost around $800 million to restore.
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