Europe 'shoulder to shoulder' with Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine

The EU pledged on Tuesday that it stands “shoulder to shoulder” with Ukraine as violations of the cease-fire between Ukrainian forces and rebels in the east of the country continued.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the 28-member bloc had agreed to make a third payment of 1.8 billion euros in aid to Ukraine following last week's package of 250 million euros.

"In total, we have already mobilized 6 billion euros of a total 11 billion euro support package," he told a conference in Kiev.

"We stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Ukraine."

He added that the EU’s support for Ukraine was a "contract between the EU and Ukraine – but also a contract between Ukraine and its people."

Juncker also announced a 110 million euro aid package for small- and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine, which he said would particularly help areas hardest-hit by the 13-month conflict.

Since March last year, 6,000 people have been killed and 2 million displaced in fighting between government troops and pro-Russia separatists in the country’s eastern region.

In a video address, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said the U.S. was ready to provide $2 billion to Ukraine, the first half immediately and the second half dependent on Kiev’s reform program.

He said sanctions targeting Russia would remain in place until Moscow fully meets its commitments under February’s Minsk cease-fire, which calls the withdrawal of heavy weapons and foreign-armed fighters and the release of prisoners.

The agreement also envisages political reform and decentralization in eastern Ukraine.

On Monday, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe observers witnessed heavy clashes around Shyrokyne, near the government-controlled port of Mariupol. The mission said it saw tanks and other proscribed weapons being used.

The EU has called for Petro Poroshenko’s government, which has aspirations to join the bloc, to make significant reforms.

"The only solution to this crisis is a political one,” Juncker said. “Reform is the only way to restore stability, to restore economic opportunity, to heal the wounds of a country in conflict."

He welcomed recent examples of successful reform in energy and the fight against corruption.

European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said it was important for Ukraine to implement a clear and ambitious reform plan – "a reform plan that addresses the structural problems in the Ukrainian economy and makes it more competitive."