On April 20, the US military and the Ukrainian government army officially began a joint exercise, reportedly aimed at countering the opposition in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine lavished praise on the arrival of American troops.

Speaking in the rain at a military base in Yavoriv, ​​western Ukraine, the Ukrainian president welcomed the presence of the US 173rd Airborne Brigade.

"We are witnesses and direct participants in the formation of a new type of Ukrainian army, like a phoenix rising from the ashes after many years," AFP quoted Poroshenko as saying.

"This is not just a war in Ukraine, but also a war for freedom and democracy in Europe and around the world," Poroshenko asserted.

The US military (right) conducts joint exercises with the Ukrainian military (left) (photo: Reuters)

Reportedly, the exercise, codenamed "Brave Defender 2015," aimed to train approximately 900 Ukrainian soldiers and took place at the Yavoriv military base in western Ukraine. According to the training program, US forces would train three Ukrainian battalions over a six-month period.

According to Reuters, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt attended the opening ceremony of this military training program. Poroshenko emphasized that this is seen as an effort towards cooperation between Ukraine and its allies.

The U.S. military has previously assisted in training Ukrainian soldiers, but this is the first time Washington has conducted joint exercises with Ukraine.

AFP quoted Ukrainian President Poroshenko as saying: “This is the first time we have had a joint military exercise of this scale in Ukraine.” “I am confident that our exercises will be effective in promoting and stabilizing the situation in Ukraine,” Poroshenko stated.

Besides the US, the UK is also deploying around 75 people to Ukraine on a similar mission to support the training of Ukrainian soldiers. Last week, Canada announced that it will also send 200 people to Ukraine this summer.

The joint military exercises between the US and Ukraine are taking place as the fighting in the east has significantly subsided since the ceasefire agreement signed on February 12th came into effect.

Nevertheless, sporadic clashes and skirmishes still occur here and there along the 450km front line between Kiev's government forces and separatist forces in eastern Ukraine.

The Kremlin was "on edge" upon hearing news of the military exercises.

Information about the military exercise was announced on April 17, after the US sent 300 troops to Lviv, in western Ukraine. Following this development, Russia expressed concern that the exercise could "further destabilize" Ukraine and represent a step in the deployment of US weapons in Ukraine, Reuters reported.

RT reported that on April 17, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the presence of American military instructors in Ukraine would destabilize the reconciliation process within Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov (photo: Sputnik)

Peskov noted that the joint US-Ukraine military exercises are taking place while the internal conflict in Ukraine and the situation in the south and east of the country remain unresolved, which could create further problems in implementing the Minsk ceasefire agreement that the parties agreed to sign on February 12.

"The presence of military experts from third countries cannot contribute to resolving the conflict and creating a positive atmosphere in Ukraine; on the contrary, it will destabilize the situation," RT quoted Peskov as saying.

Spokesman Peskov further emphasized that, from now on, Russia will pay close attention to all information regarding the exercises.

According to RT, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich stated on April 17: "As far as I know, the training program includes practical skills in the use of weapons and equipment according to Western standards."

"This can be seen as the first step in supplying advanced American weapons to a Kyiv that is currently lacking them," said Alexander Lukashevich.

"What will foreign military experts teach them (the Ukrainian soldiers) – will they teach them how to continue killing people, especially those who speak Russian?" spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said sharply.

Reuters reported that on April 20, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov affirmed that Moscow is making every effort to prevent a renewed escalation of violence in eastern Ukraine. According to Lavrov, the fighting is currently subsiding in Ukraine, and “We will actively create conditions to promote this situation,” he said.

Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko also stated on April 20 in Kyiv that no Ukrainian soldiers had been killed or wounded in the past 24 hours. “The number of ceasefire violations by the enemy has decreased significantly,” Lysenko said at a press conference.

However, while the situation in eastern Ukraine has temporarily calmed down, the US and Ukraine are conducting large-scale military exercises in the west. It seems that this "calm" in Ukraine is only temporary, as the conflict between the US, the West, and Russia has not actually ended. At any time, the already fragile ceasefire agreement could be broken.

According to Vov.vn