U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch has said that if Ukraine refuses the Minsk accords and withdraws from the negotiation process, it may lose the support of Western partners.

"If we deviate from 'Minsk', when I say "we", I think, it is important that the international community has united around Ukraine [...] there are very good partners in this negotiation process. I think that Ukraine will remain without the support of Western partners if it withdraws from this negotiation process," Yovanovitch said on Thursday during her speech in the framework of the panel discussion "US Foreign Policy: What role will Ukraine play?" at the Kyiv Security Forum on Thursday.

She also noted that the Minsk agreements are very unpopular in Ukraine, however, they contain all the necessary aspects of the conflict settlement, both the political part and the part that concerns security. And if an agreement is abandoned, it will be necessary to look for an alternative process.