RFE/RL's Luke Johnson has sent our news desk this item from Washington:
The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland has told a Washington-based think tank that Ukraine needs to beat corruption and that aid provided by the United States is conditioned on Kyiv "staying the reform course."
Nuland, speaking at the American Enterprise Institute on December 17, said that the United States believes "that if Ukraine does not beat corruption this time, if it does not create a clean, transparent, democratic country, then it will once again blow its chance."
Ukraine's Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius called Ukraine the "most corrupt country in Europe" on December 16 and said the country must change course.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United States, and the European Union have pledged aid to help the country stave off an economic crisis, while also demanding that Ukraine tackle corruption.
With reporting by AFP, Reuters