Ukraine hopes for practical assistance from US in implementing domestic reforms - Klimkin
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has held a number of meetings in the U.S. Congress, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's press service reported.
Klimkin met with chairman and co-chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, Congressmen Ed Royce and Eliot Engel, chairman of the Armed Services Committee of the Senate, Senator Carl Levin, as well as the management and members of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs, Senators Christopher Murphy, Ronald Johnson, Benjamin Cardin, Jeanne Shaheen, James Risch, the Foreign Ministry's press service said.
According to the report, during the meeting the Ukrainian foreign minister briefed the U.S. officials about the ongoing anti-terrorist operation in the east of Ukraine, "the Ukrainian authorities' efforts to ensure stability and territorial integrity of our country, the difficult economic situation in Ukraine, which is largely due to the Russian aggression and the economic pressure from the eastern neighbor."
"Klimkin welcomed the additional sanctions by the U.S. and the EU against Russia and expressed hope for the unity in the ranks of the Western partners on this issue," the statement reads.
The foreign minister emphasized the government's work on the realization of large-scale internal reforms, in which Ukraine hopes for practical assistance from the United States.
"The U.S. congressmen have expressed support to our country and condemned Russia's aggressive policy, noted the willingness of the U.S. to continue to assist Ukraine and increase the pressure on Russia. They also welcomed the Ukrainian authorities' efforts to hold reforms and noted their full support of this process," the statement reads.