During his visit to Washington, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin held a number of meetings at the White House and the U.S. Department of State, namely, with National Security Advisor Susan Rice, Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Assistant Secretary Victoria Nuland, Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein, Coordinator for Sanctions Policy Daniel Fried. 

U.S. Government officials congratulated Ukraine on its election as non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council that happened the day before and showed the support for Ukraine by the overwhelming majority of countries.

The parties discussed the state of implementation of the Minsk agreements. It was emphasized that Russia-backed rebels must comply with the provisions regarding the withdrawal of arms, ceasefire, as well as enssuring full access of the OSCE observers as prerequisites for local elections in Donbass, which must fully comply with Ukrainian laws. It was agreed that the sanctions regime must remain in force and must be strengthened in case of violations of the Minsk agreements and continued Russian aggression, and that the U.S. will support our country in coordinating the sanctions policy with the EU until full restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, including the return of Crimea. 

Pavlo Klimkin and high U.S. officials exchanged thoughts on the current issues on the bilateral agenda, including the U.S. support for Ukraine’s implementation of comprehensive reforms, cooperation in financial and energy spheres, including the energy efficiency and energy diversification. The parties also discussed the cooperation between Ukraine and the U.S. on the international arena, in international organizations, as well as the issues of global security.