MOSCOW, March 23 - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Moscow to discuss the crisis situations in Ukraine and Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Kremlin.

They are also likely to discuss Tuesday’s attacks in Brussels, which Secretary Kerry called an assault against the Belgian people and against the very heart of Europe, the Voice of America reported.

The senior State Department official told reporters President Barack Obama and Kerry are concerned by the recent sharp increase in violations of the cease-fire, and want to see all elements of the Minsk Agreements implemented this year.

The agreements represent a package of measures meant to reduce the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine. They also authorize the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) access to monitor and verify the cease-fire and the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the separatist-controlled side of eastern Ukraine.

Beginning in February 2014, Russia orchestrated a military intervention and ultimately annexed Crimea a few weeks later, a move that was condemned by the international community which hit Moscow with sanctions. Russia is pushing hard in Europe for an end to the sanctions.

The senior State Department official told reporters Kerry will definitely raise the issue of the jailed female Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko.

Savchenko was sentenced Tuesday by a Russian court to 22 years of imprisonment. The pilot was taken hostage by Russia in 2014 and has been on a hunger strike since early March to protest the Russian criminal case against her. The State Department said it is extremely concerned about her sentence because her health is imperiled. She has reportedly endured interrogation, solitary confinement and forced “psychiatric evaluation.”

Kerry will again call on Russia to immediately release Savchenko and other unlawfully detained people. (va/ez)