US Department of State denies funding Kyiv Maidan supporters

11:02, 22.04.2014 1 min read

The U.S. authorities have allocated $5 billion since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 to support democracy in Ukraine, U.S. Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland has said.

"That money has been spent on supporting the aspirations of the Ukrainian people to have a strong, democratic government that represents their interests," Nuland said in an interview with CNN.

"We certainly didn't spend any money supporting the Maidan," she added, calling it a spontaneous movement.

Nuland also said that Russia had not been holding up its end of the bargain of an agreement signed last week between Russia, the U.S., Europe, and Ukraine to deescalate the situation in eastern Ukraine.

"We have not seen the kind of major de-escalation that we're looking for, nor have we seen serious Russian efforts to help the OSCE or to speak out against separatists since Geneva," she said.