BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Angela Merkel says Germany stands ready to help Ukrainian President-elect Petro Poroshenko tackle the problems his country faces.

A pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine threatens to split the country, already struggling with corruption before the uprising that toppled Moscow-backed former President Viktor Yanukovych earlier this year.

Merkel said Thursday that Ukraine will need Russia’s support as well. The chancellor has sought to keep lines of communication open with Russia even as the country is isolated by the West for its involvement in Ukraine.

Poroshenko told reporters in Berlin he hoped Moscow had understood that “the position of the Russian Federation is obviously harmful for both sides.”

The two leaders will attend Friday’s D-Day remembrance ceremony in France, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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