Pompeo discusses Russian aggression with Ukrainian counterpart

WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (KUNA) -- Secretary Michael Pompeo met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin to discuss Russian aggression towards Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea.
"We will continue to impose consequences against Russia until Moscow fully implements the Minsk agreements and returns control of Crimea to Ukraine," Pompeo said in a statement to the press on Friday.
"As a show of our resolve, just last week we imposed a new round of sanctions on the supporters of Russian aggression in Ukraine." The two sides discussed the rule of law, anticorruption, relations with neighbors, and human rights.
"We explored how we can work together to promote democratic principles, press freedom, and judicial independence, advancing these crucial reform goals will ensure the ideals of the Revolution of Dignity are permanently woven into the fabric of a democratic Ukraine," Pomeo added.
Finally, the two also discussed energy, security, and economic reforms to stop the Nord Stream 2 project to protect Ukraine's economic strategy and prevent risks to compromising the sovereign of European nations that depend on Russian gas, said the Secretary.
"We do not want our European friends to fall prey to the kind of political and economic manipulation Russia has attempted in Ukraine since it cast off its Soviet shackles," Pompeo concluded.
For his part, Klimkin said, "we've had a very good and productive discussion today on the whole range of issues that both our countries work on and today's meeting showed once again that Ukraine and the United States have become real allies and friends." "With presidential and parliamentary elections coming up into Ukraine, we are looking at US experience in countering Russia's election meddling, as well as sharing with the US our experience in dealing with this risk," he added.
The foreign minister thanked Pompeo for the Crimea Declaration but noted so far Ukraine does not see any changes from Russia.
On the economy Klimkin said they discussed, "further expanding and giving a boost to our trade and investment as well as actual cooperation. Our trade increased 1.6 times over the past year.
We can think about new ideas in this field such as exploring the possibility of a free trade area in the future," Klimkin added. (end) ak.mb