BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — A top U.S. diplomat is welcoming round table talks in Ukraine but says mediators also need to concentrate on stopping separatist violence in the east.

Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland says the U.S. is encouraging all parties in Ukraine to take advantage of talks that started Tuesday brokered by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

But she added, “We would like to see as much effort … going into de-escalating, getting separatists out of buildings, demilitarizing the east. Because that is equally important and that it causing a lot of terror in the east.”

Nuland was speaking at a conference in Slovakia on global security. Many participants urged the European Union, NATO and the U.S. to do more to support Ukraine and resist Russian pressure.

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