President Petro Poroshenko met with U.S. Congress delegation consisting of senators Jeanne Shaheen, Richard Durbin and Elizabeth Warren.
The Head of State expressed gratitude for their consistent support for Ukraine in the provision of important assistance in countering Russian aggression and overcoming economic challenges.
The President informed on the situation in Donbas, particularly on ceasefire and abolition of pseudo-elections. However, according to the Head of State, there are no positive signals on the provision of full access to the OSCE SMM and liberation of hostages and illegally imprisoned persons, including Nadiya Savchenko and Oleg Sentsov. He also blamed new plans of leaders of the so-called DPR and LPR to conduct local fake elections in 2016. According to the President, the date of local elections will be set forth after the adoption of respective law by the Verkhovna Rada on the basis of Ukrainian legislation and with consideration of OSCE/ODIHR standards. “New fantasies and blackmail by militants can lead to new sanctions against Moscow,” the President said.
In this regard, Petro Poroshenko urged the U.S. and European partners to make every effort to ensure clear and strict compliance with the Minsk agreements by Russia and militants. “Kremlin should understand that it will pay a higher price for the violation of the Minsk agreements. Transatlantic solidarity and response must be efficient,” he emphasized.
The senators praised recent steps on de-escalation in Donbas and expressed hope that the Russian party would fully implement the agreements.
The parties discussed the opportunity of intensifying cooperation on the enhancement of Ukraine’s defense capacity, stabilization of economic situation in the country and implementation of internal reforms, inter alia, in the framework of the implementation of the strategy of fight against corruption.
The President informed on the introduction of reforms, particularly in public prosecution and judicial sphere. The senators emphasized that people should feel the first results of the reforms and democratic transformations.