French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have called on Ukraine to press ahead with economic reforms.
Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said on December 14 that the two leaders encouraged Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in a telephone call to “get the planned sweeping reforms under way."
"Only that way can the economy recover and the necessary international financial help be advanced," he said.
On December 13 in Kyiv, the International Monetary Fund's first deputy managing director, David Lipton, said he was "impressed" by Ukraine's plans for reform to avoid bankruptcy and defaulting on its debts.
Ukraine's parliament last week approved the government's economic program of reforms aimed at securing billions of dollars in financial aid from the IMF and other lenders.
The program includes overhauling the tax system, raising energy tariffs, and privatizing state firms.