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The United States might waver on Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia but Europe will not, the European Union's foreign policy chief said Friday, so long as a standing agreement to stop the fighting in Ukraine is not fully implemented.

After meetings in Washington, D.C. with lawmakers and administration officials, Federica Mogherini expressed some uncertainty about whether the United States would maintain sanctions on Russia related to the Kremlin's support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.

"The European position is clear on this. I am confident it will continue to be clear in unity," she said during an event at the Atlantic Council. "But I cannot answer for the U.S. I can say I was receiving reassuring messages. But I don't know if there will be divisions in the U.S. on this. I hope not."

Mogherini said that during her visit, administration officials agreed to maintain sanctions on Russia until a 2015 cease-fire deal to stop the fighting in Ukraine, known as the Minsk agreement, is fully implemented. However, she was unsure of whether that position would stick.

"My meetings were positive and in particular we agreed that as long as the Minsk agreements are not fully implemented, sanctions will remain in place," she said. "But I don't know if this is going to be the consolidated policy."

"I was not in the Oval Office when President Trump called President Putin, but for us, this is an essential point," she said.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was especially open to discussions about how to implement the Minsk agreement, she added, and noted that Congress is also unified on keeping sanctions pressure on Russia.

"I believe that this is not an essential point only for Europeans. I think that in Congress this is an essential point as well," she said.

Tillerson indicated support for providing lethal aid to Ukraine in the fight against Russian-backed separatists during his confirmation hearing. Other Trump administration officials have said that sanctions related to Ukraine will be maintained until Russia ceases its activities there.

Still, lawmakers, unsettled by President Trump's vows to improve relations with the Kremlin, have introduced legislation to codify and ramp up Russia sanctions, as well as legislation that would slow potential moves to lift them.

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Kiev expected to reach a deal with the International Monetary Fund by the end of the month to allow the next tranche of aid, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said, and blamed Russia for renewed fighting flared in eastern Ukraine.

Speaking after the biggest surge in violence in Ukraines industrial east of the country for more than a year, Mr Groysman also called on new United States President Donald Trump to provide defensive weapons to Ukraine to bring Moscow back into peace talks.

We have practically completed negotiations (with the IMF) and only a few nuances remain, he said of talks with the global lender to unlock the latest series of loans under Ukraines $17.5 billion bailout by the end of the month.

Mr Groysman said Kiev intended to cooperate with the US-based lender but that the IMF needed to have realistic expectations on what Ukraine could achieve in terms of judicial reforms that are holding up talks.

Its important that all the conditions... have realistic deadlines, he told Reuters during a two-day visit to Brussels where he met officials from the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

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Ukraine PM sees IMF deal by end-Feb amid new fighting in east - Times of Malta

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It's Time For Trump To Call Ukraine's 'Pro-Russian Rebels' What They Are: Russian Invaders - Forbes

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Russia's Baltic Sea Pipeline Scares The Life Out Of Ukraine - Forbes

The Ukrainian foreign minister says he hopes to meet National Front leader Marine Le Pen when he visits Paris in May to persuade her to stop supporting Russias annexation of Crimea.

Le Pen is currently favorite to reach the runoff of Frances presidential election in May, but her chances of turning that into a second-round victory are slim.

Kiev is sufficiently concerned by Le Pens potential to seek a meeting to discuss her support for Russia, which annexed Crimea in 2014 and is supporting an insurgency in eastern Ukraine.

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Ukraines Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin told broadcaster 1+1 on Thursday that he will meet Le Pen during a visit to Paris, in order to change her mind on Crimea. He said he would reach out to all possible winners of the French presidential election, to ensure Ukraine maintains a strong relationship with France.

We are working with the teams of the candidates with different political parties and journalists, Klimkin said. He added that Ukrainian Ambassador to France Oleg Shamshur will arrange the meeting with Le Pen. I will show her these materials which we have prepared, including those in relation to Crimea in the process of our request (to the U.N.) vis-a-vis the Convention on racial discrimination.

The Ukrainian government claims that Russia is persecuting Crimeas Muslim Tatar minority and that Russia should return Crimea to Ukrainian sovereignty.

Le Pen and her National Front party have been accused of being funded by Russia. Earlier this year, the party sought a $30 million loan from Russia and in 2014 it accepted a $9.8 million loan from the First Czech Russian Bank. Le Pen insists the loan was purely commercial.

We know perfectly well that her party is also financed by Russia, Klimkin said, We know perfectly well the degree of attachment but we must get working and we must press on. We have some ideas but I am not going to discuss all of that today.

Le Pen has grown in popularity in recent years as France has struggled with Islamic extremism and economic discontent. Jean-Marie Le Pen, her father and former leader of the party, managed to get to the second round of the presidential election in 2002 but was soundly beaten as conservatives and socialists united behind Jacques Chirac.

The U.K.s vote to leave the EU and Donald Trumps victory in the U.S. Presidential election suggest that nationalist and anti-European policies might be enjoying an international renaissance, which could favor Le Pen.

The National Front leader's opponents includethe Socialist partys Benoit Hamon, Francois Fillon from the Republicans and former Socialist minister Emmanuel Macron, running as an independent.

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Ukraine Wants to Make Le Pen Relax Russia Support - Newsweek