Readout of Vice President Biden’s Call with Ukrainian President Yanukovych

Vice President Biden spoke with President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine today to discuss our common agenda following the meeting of the U.S.-Ukraine Strategic Partnership Commission on February 15.  The Vice President thanked President Yanukovych for Ukraine’s assistance in responding to the situation in Libya.  He underscored that our strategic partnership with Ukraine is based on our shared democratic values. In that context, the Vice President emphasized the importance of avoiding any selective prosecutions of opposition officials and the need for an electoral law reform process that is fully inclusive to further Ukraine’s European integration and best help it attract foreign direct investment. The Vice President emphasized that the United States wants to see greater foreign direct investment in Ukraine, and he and President Yanukovych discussed the need to avoid any laws or other actions that would undercut the ability of businesses to make those investments.  In addition, the Vice President thanked President Yanukovych for our continued cooperation on nonproliferation issues and underscored our commitment to see through our promises to each other to remove all Ukrainian highly enriched uranium by next year’s Nuclear Security Summit.