Ukrainian president pins hopes of peace deal on Obama-Putin

Former President Bill Clinton, left, listens as Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine, speaks at the Clinton Global Initiative, Sunday, September 27, 2015 in New York.

Kiev has officially informed all of the Russian commercial airlines on its blacklist, which will be banned from flying into Ukraine after October 25, an aide to the head of Ukraine’s state aviation service said Monday. Although fighting between the separatists and Ukrainian forces has quietened in recent months, a firm resolution of the conflict appears to be distant. Internal ceasefires organized from region to region by the group charged with overseeing the conflict, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, have led to some limited success.

“I believe that effective coordination of our actions will bring results”, Poroshenko added. The Ukrainian government dismisses the planned elections and says voting can only be held in accordance with Ukrainian law.

U.S.-Russian relations deteriorated after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014.

Ukraine’s move serves as part of sanctions over the Kremlin’s support of pro-Russian rebels in the east of the country.

Besides Ukraine, the subject of Syria is sure to come up in the Putin-Obama meeting.

“Each day of this war on Donbass cost us about $5 million that we could have invested into sustainable development”, Poroshenko said during his United Nations speech, according to a Ukraine Today report.