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Visiting U.S. Senators Pledge Continued Support For Ukraine Amid 'Russian Aggression'

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service June 02, 2021

A U.S. bipartisan congressional delegation visiting Kyiv has encouraged Ukraine to continue reforms to solidify its democracy and expressed solidarity with the country in the face of Russian "aggression."

"Ensuring Ukraine continues key reforms to strengthen its democracy is critical to our enduring partnership & to counter Russian aggression," Senator Jeanne Shaheen (Democrat-New Hampshire), who is heading the U.S. delegation, tweeted from the Ukrainian capital on June 2.

"Appreciated meeting w/government reps & civil society members on their work to root out corruption & build a better tomorrow for Ukraine," she added.

During the talks, the senators "reaffirmed bipartisan U.S. support for Ukraine's sovereignty & territorial integrity," according to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that long-term bipartisan support for Ukraine in the U.S. Congress is "vital to our strategic partnership at a time when our state continues to resist Russian aggression and implement reforms."

The visiting delegation includes Shaheen and two other members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- Senator Rob Portman (Republican-Ohio) and Chris Murphy (Democrat-Connecticut).

The visit comes with U.S.-Russian ties at their lowest levels since the Cold War over issues including Russia's March 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and the Kremlin's ongoing support of pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine's east, where more than 13,200 people have been killed since April 2014.

The three senators traveled to Ukraine from Lithuania, where they met with exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya. They called for harsher economic sanctions against the regime of Belarus's authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka and for the release of political prisoners.

The delegation is set to travel to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi after it leaves Kyiv.

Ahead of the bipartisan trip, Shaheen said it would send "a clear message that the United States is committed to rebuilding our transatlantic relations and reasserting U.S. global leadership to promote democratic values."

"We support Ukraine and Georgia in their desire to achieve their Euro-Atlantic ambitions, and the U.S. is eager to play a supporting role to make NATO and EU membership a reality."

Ukraine and Georgia are seeking closer ties with the West, including membership in NATO that Moscow adamantly opposes.

Russia maintains troops in two breakaway regions that comprise about 20 percent of Georgian territory, in what Tbilisi considers an occupation.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/congressional -delegation-kyiv/31286919.html

Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.