The United States will continue to work with the European Union to keep the current sanctions against Russia in force until the full implementation of the Minsk agreements, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland has said.

Speaking before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington on Thursday, she said that some progress has been made in the implementation of the Minsk agreements, but that "Ukraine still has a long, hard road to travel."

"We understand why – after almost 2 years of violence, war and lies – many Ukrainian patriots and some in the West doubt Russia and its proxies will ever allow full implementation of Minsk. But Minsk implementation remains a goal worth fighting for because the alternatives are bleak: at best, a frozen conflict in which Donbas becomes an unrecognized gray zone for the foreseeable future; at worst, a return to the war that has already claimed too many Ukrainian lives– and Russian lives, as well," Nuland said.

"So we will keep supporting Ukraine as it does its part to implement Minsk. Along with the Normandy powers, France and Germany, we will keep pushing Russia and its proxies to demonstrate equal good faith," she said.

Nuland said that the U.S. "will judge Russia and the separatists by their actions, not their words."

"We will work with the EU to keep sanctions in place until the Minsk agreements are fully implemented. And of course, Crimea sanctions remain in place so long as the Kremlin imposes its will on that piece of Ukrainian land," she said.