Ukraine should fulfill the promise to implement political and economic reforms, otherwise the European Union can cancel sanctions against Russia, US Vice President Joseph Biden warned, BBC reports.
“We know that if they give EU a cause, there are at least five countries, ready to say right now: “We do not want to participate in sanctions against Moscow any longer””, Biden said, delivering speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
According to Biden, each week, since the beginning of crisis in Ukraine, he speaks for two-three hours with Ukrainian authorities, encouraging to implement reforms, and he persuaded Germany, France and Italy to keep sanctions.
“In Europe there were such sentiments: “Before president’s replacement, Ukraine anyway belonged to Russia. They had their own puppet. What is the difference? Why do you make us participate in these sanctions?””, Reuters quotes Biden.
The day before, Bide had meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and stated that the USA is ready to provide loan guarantees, amounting to USD 1 billion, to Ukraine.
The USA and the International Monetary Fund provide financial aid to Ukraine in exchange for political and economic reforms, the implementation of which is regularly delayed.