On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to reporters about the Russia-Ukraine conflict during a speech in Paris, France.

According to a transcript of Kerry's speech, the secretary of state was hosted by his "friend" Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and he also met with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Kerry said that the United States is dedicated to standing by Europe.

"And together with our partners in the European Union, the United States and France are deeply committed to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said.

The secretary of state added that shootings near the Donetsk Airport in eastern Ukraine and other places in the area "has to stop."

"Foreign forces and weapons need to be withdrawn," Kerry said. "Hostages -- all hostages -- need to be released, and that includes the pilot, Nadia Savchenko."

According to Kerry, he and the foreign ministers also discussed the importance of finishing gas talks between the EU, Russia and Ukraine. (A speech by Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday also underscored the importance of European countries becoming more energy independent.)

"With winter coming, the people of Ukraine and Europe need to be assured of a reliable supply of fuel," Kerry explained.

In addition, Kerry pointed out that the U.S. wishes to maintain a peaceful relationship with Russia.

"Now, it is no secret that the United States and Russia have had our differences over Ukraine," he said.

"But I want to emphasize what I said at the beginning of these comments. We came together today in order to try to focus on those issues where we can find the capacity to be able to make a difference to other countries, to the world in general, and certainly to the relationship between Russia and the United States."

Kerry tackled various issues with the foreign ministers during his trip, including Ebola, ISIL, peace in the Middle East and more.

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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

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