KIEV, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Kurt Volker, U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, on Tuesday visited the conflict-hit Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, the press service of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) said in a statement on Facebook.

The visit marked the first trip of the U.S. envoy to eastern Ukraine since the start of the JFO, the new military operation of the Ukrainian government in the conflict-hit region.

During the visit, Volker held talks with the JFO commander Serhiy Nayev and assessed on the ground the security and the humanitarian situation in Donbas.

While speaking at a press conference in the government-controlled city of Sloviansk, Volker said that the United States stands for the implementation of the Minsk agreements and for the deployment of UN peacekeeping troops on the whole conflict-hit territory in Donbas to peacefully resolve the conflict.

"If these conditions are met, it will become a legal mechanism to restore Ukraine's control over these territories," Volker was quoted as saying by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

The conflict in Ukraine's eastern region of Donbas started in April 2014, after government forces launched offensives to regain control of the cities and towns seized by armed groups which had declared independence from Kiev.

Volker, the former U.S. ambassador to NATO, was appointed to serve as the U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations in July 2017.