WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to travel to Ukraine later this week as part of a multi-leg trip.
Following day-long meetings in Morocco concerning efforts to counter the Islamic State, the vice president will head to Kiev, where he will meet with Ukrainian leaders on Friday and chair a roundtable on anti-corruption and rule of law reforms.
According to a senior U.S. administration official, Biden's conversations with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk are expected to be "extensive."
In addition to offering his congratulations to the president and prime minister for Ukraine's successful democratic elections Oct. 26, "the vice president will also note the need to quickly move ahead with forming a new government to get on with the business of implementing important reforms," and "discuss, I'm sure at length, concerns that all of us have regarding Russia's ongoing violations of the September 5th Minsk agreement with Ukraine."
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According to the Minsk Protocol, all parties to the Ukraine conflict agreed on Sept. 5 to deescalate the crisis through the institution of an immediate cease-fire and the withdrawal of illegal armed groups, mercenaries and military equipment -- two stipulations that have largely been ignored.
Biden "will reaffirm our support for the Minsk agreement and the need for all parties to comply with it, but also stand firm on Ukraine's right to defend itself," the official said.
The U.S. and European Union are considering "an intensification of the sanctions" imposed on Russia, another U.S. official acknowledged. On the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Brisbane last weekend, the leaders also discussed "next steps to provide additional financial support to Ukraine."
