Remarks to the Press by Vice President Joe Biden and Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk

Cabinet of Ministers Club
Kyiv, Ukraine 

1:40 P.M. (Local)

VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN:  Mr. Prime Minister, let me begin by thanking you both for your hospitality, but much more importantly for the incredible leadership you’ve shown under very, very, very difficult circumstances.

We just celebrated Easter, and Easter is supposed to be a season of peace, of family, and a time when we all come together.  But today there are some who are trying to pull Ukraine apart.  Ukraine is in the struggle for its very future. 

When I left the hotel this morning, the hotel management asked me to sign their book that they have before I left.  And as I told you, Mr. Prime Minister, I signed, “Ukraine united, Joe Biden.”  I wish it were that easy, just signing my signature.  But the truth of the matter is we, the United States, stand with you and all the Ukrainian people on a Ukraine united.  And I’ll say at the top we do not recognize -- we do not recognize -- Russia’s actions in the Crimea. 

But today, as I said, there are some trying to pull Ukraine apart.  And you have -- we’re in the struggle for your very future.  There’s been a lot of talk about geopolitics, about East and West.  But here in Ukraine, people know that it’s about something much more fundamental.  It’s not about geopolitics; it’s about unity.  It’s about independence.  And at its most basic level, it’s about restoring respect and dignity.

For months Ukrainians braved bone-chilling, cold weather and stood down snipers’ bullets in the Maidan.  And I know not every Ukrainian feels the same way about the Maidan.  I understand that.  But it’s my view that all Ukrainians can agree on the core idea that government exists to serve the people.  The people do not exist to serve the government.  And that the people of the Ukraine -- of Ukraine should have the right to choose their own future.

I offer my personal sympathies to the families of those who laid down their lives for this cause.  These heroes remind us of the true cost of a better future and the nobility of those who reach for it.  I came here to Kyiv to let you know, Mr. Prime Minister, and every Ukrainian know that the United States stands with you and is working to support all Ukrainians in seeking a better future.

The road ahead obviously, as we discussed at length both here and in Washington, Mr. Prime Minister, is difficult.  And you should know, as I told you at the outset, you will not walk this road alone.  We will walk it with you.

Today, the Prime Minister and I talked about the work before us.  We discussed the most acute problem, the most acute matter facing the Ukrainian people, the ongoing threat to their country’s sovereignty and its territorial integrity.  I’ll say it again, Ukraine is and must remain one country from Lviv to Kharkiv down to the Black Sea -- one country, one united Ukraine. 

The United States supports a strong, united Ukraine with productive and peaceful relationships with both the East and the West, with both Russia and Europe.  And that's a goal that I know you share, Mr. Prime Minister.  But no nation -- no nation -- has the right to simply grab land from another nation.  No nation has that right.  And we will never recognize Russia’s illegal occupation of Crimea, and neither will the world, as was demonstrated by the overwhelming vote that took place in the Security Council in the General Assembly.

No nation should threaten its neighbors by massing troops along the border.  We call on Russia to pull back these forces.  No nation should stoke instability in its neighbor’s country.  We call on Russia to stop supporting men hiding behind masks in unmarked uniforms, sowing unrest in Eastern Ukraine.  And we have been clear that more provocative behavior by Russia will lead to more costs and to greater isolation.  The United States has demonstrated, as Ukraine has, that it supports diplomatic efforts to deescalate the situation. 

Mr. Prime Minister, your government has taken important steps to uphold the agreement reached in Geneva just last week, including putting forward a broad amnesty bill for separatists, which you’ve done, who give up -- amnesty for those who give up buildings and their weapons.  You’ve also sent senior representatives to the east to help the OSCE move the process forward.  You’ve met with the head of that delegation, as I did yesterday. 

We’ve heard a lot from Russian officials in the past few days, but now it’s time for Russia to stop talking and start acting.  Act on the commitments that they made:  to get pro-Russian separatists to vacate buildings and checkpoints, accept amnesty and address their grievances politically; to get out on the record calling for the release of all illegally occupied buildings.  That's not a hard thing to do, and to send senior Russian officials to work with the OSCE in the east.  These are commitments made; they should be fulfilled.  We need to see these kinds of concrete steps.  We need to see them without delay.  We will not allow this to become an open-ended process.  Time is short in which to make progress. 

In this time of testing, the instability in the east is only one of several challenges Ukraine and the government must confront.  It also has challenges in politics, economics and in energy.

Today the Prime Minister briefed me on preparations for the presidential election on March [sic] the 25th, and his aspirations for constitutional reform and a presentation on May the 15th.  The United States for this election is providing substantial assistance to make sure that they are clean and closely monitored so that nobody on the 26th of May can question their legitimacy.  I’m encouraged and I’m genuinely encouraged to see so many people in the east rejecting violence, choosing the ballot box over bullets to determine Ukraine’s future.  And I’m all -- and I was pleased to hear about Ukraine’s significant progress on constitutional reform and decentralization.

This may be the most important election in the history of Ukraine.  This is a chance to make good on the aspirations of the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians east and west and every part of this country.  For a Ukraine that empowers local governance and respects and protects different linguistic and cultural traditions, but fundamentally holds together as a single state -- united and sovereign.  There’s such possibilities ahead, Mr. Prime Minister. 

Ukrainians have also made clear that after an era of staggering public theft -- not debt, public theft -- that they will no longer accept corruption from public officials.  Your former leader had to run in hiding for fear that after everyone saw the excesses to which his theft had taken him and others.  The fact of the matter is I’m of the view -- and it’s presumptuous to ever tell another man what his country thinks -- but I’m of the view that Ukrainians east, west, north and south are just sick and tired of the corruption.

Mr. Prime Minister, Ukraine’s new law on government procedure -- procurement I should say represents a first important step in dealing with this kleptocracy.  The United States is ready to help Ukraine take further steps to build transparent institutions, to win back the trust of the people.  And just as corruption can have no place in the new Ukraine, neither can anti-Semitism or bigotry.  Let me say that again, neither can anti-Semitism or bigotry.  No place.  None.  Zero.  The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms all threats and attacks against Ukrainian Jewish communities as well as Roma and others, as you do, as well, I know, Mr. Prime Minister.

Mr. Prime Minister, you and I also discussed the efforts to stabilize and strengthen Ukraine’s economy.  Just last week the United States government signed a bill proposed by our administration for a $1 billion loan guarantee agreement with Ukraine.  The United States has also been a driving force behind the IMF, working to provide a multi-billion package to help Ukraine address the immediate needs and get Ukraine on a stronger path.  I expect the IMF package to be finalized imminently, and I congratulate you and your government here in Ukraine for having made the difficult -- and they are difficult, very difficult -- economic reforms to get this done.

The Prime Minister and I also spoke about energy.  An American team is currently in the region working with Ukraine and its neighbors to increase Ukraine’s short-term energy supply.  And I’ve been on the telephone with many of your neighbors, as you know, talking about the way to increase that supply.  And more teams are coming to support long-term improvements so that no nation -- let me be precise, so that Russia can no longer use energy as a political weapon against Ukraine and Europe.

With the right investments and the right choices, Ukraine can reduce its energy dependence and increase its energy security.  We will stand with you to help in every way we can for you to accomplish that goal.

Finally, even as we pursue diplomacy we’re also providing nonlethal support to Ukraine security services to deal with the challenges that have arisen.  We’re providing communications gear, bomb disposal technology, transportation and engineering equipment for Ukraine to protect against infiltrators and deal with explosive threats.  And our security support now totals nearly $20 million. 

Mr. Prime Minister, I know we’ll be talking again, and I’m confident that you will continue to be as consistent and persistent as you have been in order to bring about the kind of change that's needed.  We will stand with you.  It’s been inspiring to watch you and your fellow countrymen.  For all the obstacles placed in your way, you continue to move forward with resolve -- genuine resolve. 

And I’m proud to affirm that you do so with friendship, partnership and strong support from the United States of America that will not go away.  God bless your country.  And God willing, we will, in fact, see a much better day for your country.

PRIME MINISTER YATSENYUK:  Thank you, Mr. Vice President.  Let me shift to my native language. 

(As interpreted) Mr. Vice President, between our two countries there is an agreement about strategic partnership.  And this agreement is not only on the paper.  This agreement is in action.  The goal of this agreement is the development of free democratic and stable Ukrainian society and government.  The goal of this agreement and objective of it is our joint work and cooperation in providing stability and peace on the continent.  The goal of this agreement is to support the strategic relations between the United States and Ukraine.

We value the position of the United States and the support that the Ukrainian people receive from the United States during the past few months -- the Ukrainian people that choose their own way to manage their own country, the people of Ukraine that continues its fight for its rights, democracy and for the -- for having Ukraine as a successful country. 

We separately would like to thank the administration of the United States of America, the Congress and the Senate for the allocation of $1 billion as a financial assistance for the Ukrainian economy.  Ukraine asked and adopted several necessary even though complicated decisions and difficult decisions in order to reestablish financial programs with the international financial institutions.

And when we say about the package of difficult reforms, we are saying that these reforms in the packet was not passed from the IMF.  It was passed and adopted for Ukraine.  Ukraine needs real reforms. 

Mr. Vice President, we value the level of technical assistance that is provided by the government of the United States.  I separately would like focus on the corruption issue.  The government of Ukraine understands and is conscious that the money is given only to those countries that actually overcome and fight corruption.  And one of the key goals and objectives of my government and the new president that should be elected on May 25th of this year is real fight against corruption and victory over corruption.

And on the other note I would like to underscore our joint vision with regard to the needs of constitutional reforms in Ukraine.  And we implement -- we are planning to implement the constitutional reform, not just to meet the requirements of Geneva agreement, but rather to answer the request of Russia.  The constitutional reform in the country is the way to restore the balance of power.  This is the requirement of the Ukrainian people.  Thus within the constitutional reform we plan to provide additional power to regions and give the Ukrainian regions opportunity to have independent financial and budget policy in order for them to have special status for national minorities and language of national minorities, including the Russian language and make sure that every citizen of Ukraine would be able to affect the local and the central government.  Thus the constitutional reform should be implemented and must be implemented.  And it is inadmissible when the constitution is written and drawn for specific president.  Constitution should be drawn for the Ukrainian citizens and Ukrainian people. 

As to our talk about the energy, Mr. Vice President, I would like to reiterate that Ukraine is ready for cooperation in the broadest sense with both U.S. and European companies.  We do require investments into our energy sector, and the best response for energy independence from Russia will be the presence here in Ukraine of European and American investors, and among other issues related to review, joint-use and modernization of the Ukrainian gas transportation system. 

As to the elections, we did discuss this topic, and we appreciate the support of the United States in the build-up of democracy in Ukraine.  We clearly understand that whatever happens in the east, and is being supported by the Russia Federation, has, among other goals, the goal of disrupting the presidential elections, while the goal of the government is to conduct fair and transparent elections.

Even now we have two dozens of candidates who run in this election who represent the whole spectrum of the political parties of Ukraine.  And each of them could receive the needed support from the voters.  Ukraine does require a legitimately elected president, something that Russia does not need.  We will carry out the presidential elections and the elections in Ukraine, which will be conducted with the involvement of both the OECD observers and observers from the international community, should be open, fair, transparent and legitimate.  Let me reiterate Ukraine should have a new president who will support the reforms -- curbing corruption, introducing changes and amendments to the constitution of Ukraine, who will support integration with Europe, energy independence, fostering of democracy and independence of the Ukrainian state.

Separately we discussed with Mr. Vice President our northern neighbors.  Let me reiterate the position of the Ukrainian government once again.  Never, under no circumstance Ukraine would acknowledge the annexation of Crimea.  We will require from our Russian neighbors to immediately get their special forces out of the eastern region of Ukraine, so get its military forces from Crimea, thus closing down this ignoble page in history of occupation of our territory by the Russian troops.  We believe that in this century and in the modern world, no country should be allowed to behave like an armed bandit.

And it’s inadmissible, especially for those countries who are standing members of the Security Council of the United Nations.  And it’s inadmissible to a country that used to be a member of G8.  Russia should stick to its international commitments and obligations.  We are not asking anything from Russia.  What we demand from them is one thing and only, they should deliver on the international commitments, and they should not behave as gangsters in the modern century.

Ukraine has signed the first part of the political part of the association agreement with the European Union, and for us this association agreement lays the course that is required to successfully implement reforms.  This is the best agenda for Ukraine.  In order to implement the reforms and to make Ukraine a country that meets the highest standards of democracy, that meets the highest standards of curbing corruption, that meets the highest standards of protecting human rights and the rights of citizens.

We acknowledge the challenges that Ukraine is facing.  And our government will deliver difficult but so much needed reforms for Ukraine.  We would like to thank once again the government of the United States and the people of the United States for their support.  You also witnessed a very difficult path in developing your nation.  We are going through this path.  You became a successful nation.  We are becoming a successful nation.  If we work together side by side so that the people in the United States and people in Ukraine will live better, and the world will feel safer, then for sure, we’ll all be successful. 

Thank you, Mr. Vice President, for your visit.

END
2:06 P.M. (Local)

Background Press Briefing on Vice President Biden's Trip to Ukraine

Aboard Air Force Two
En Route Kyiv, Ukraine

2:00 P.M. (Local)

MR. SPECTOR:  Just a reminder at the top this is on background as a senior administration official.  He will give some brief remarks at the top and walk through the schedule, and then he’ll take a few questions afterwards.  And again, senior administration official on background.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Thanks, everybody.  We’re about an hour and a half out of Kyiv, and I just wanted to lay out for you what the Vice President will be doing while he’s here, and then speak to some of the themes from the trip and then answer some of your questions.

When we arrive today, he’s got an opportunity to meet with our embassy team that has been pretty much working around the clock for the last few months, even long before February 21st; and then he will sit down with a CODEL led by Congressman Royce to have the chance to speak with them before they have their series of official meetings on Tuesday as well.  So he’ll get brought up to speed on developments on the ground today from our ambassador and our team, and then he’ll go into his meetings tomorrow.

He starts in the morning with a meeting with acting President Turchynov, and then he will do a meeting with Rada representatives from every corner of the country -- from the center, the west, the east, the south -- from multiple generations of Ukrainian politics; some familiar names and then some younger faces and voices.  And the key message of that meeting from him is one of national unity and a successful constitutional reform effort that takes into account the perspectives and aspirations of all Ukrainians. 

But in addition to sending that message, he’s also going to want to hear from them -- all of them -- about what they would like to see both in the immediate term, and then over the medium to long term.

He will then meet with Prime Minister Yatsenyuk where he’ll cover the full range of issues confronting Ukraine today.  And then he’ll finish with a meeting with a couple of dozen or more members of civil society from a variety of backgrounds who work on a variety of issues from democracy to anti-corruption, to youth issues, to cultural issues.  He’ll have an opportunity to address not just them but a broader segment of the Ukrainian public in public remarks there that will be open to the media before going behind closed doors to have conversations with the assembled group about the way they see things and what the United States can do to support them.

So that's the schedule.  In terms of what the Vice President is trying to accomplish, first and foremost, he wanted to come Kyiv to send a very clear message of the United States’ support for Ukraine’s democracy, unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity.  And he wanted to have the opportunity to speak to all Ukrainians from the center, from the west, from the east and from south.  He will call for urgent implementation of the agreement reached in Geneva last week, while also making clear as we have done for the last few days there will be mounting costs for Russia if they choose a destabilizing rather than constructive course in the days ahead.

He will speak to government leaders both the Prime Minister and the acting President, but also members of various factions in the Rada, as well as with civil society about how the United States can support constitutional reform, including the government’s decentralization proposals and how we can support their effort to bring about free and fair elections, international monitors supporting international standards on May 25th.  He will speak to officials about steps towards economic stabilization in Ukraine.  He’ll discuss forms of U.S. assistance, including the loan guarantee that was signed this past week, but also and especially the IMF agreement.  We hope that the final elements of that will come together imminently, and that the IMF board will be able to meet relatively soon to complete that process and begin dispersing the money.

He will speak about both the short- and long-term energy situation in Ukraine.  As he arrives, there will also be a team on the ground from the United States, a team of experts working on the reverse flow issue.  That team will be in Kyiv and then will travel also to Slovakia, Poland and Hungary to help address the issue of reversing the flow of natural gas to provide Ukraine with some measure of short-term supply of natural gas as they look to replenish their stores.

But also he’ll discuss with them medium- and long-term strategies to boost conventional gas production, and also to begin to take advantage of the unconventional gas reserves that are in Ukraine.

Then, of course, as you might anticipate from his meeting with civil society, he’s looking to lift up the voices of Ukraine civil society as they seek to ensure there isn’t a repeat of the past, that they look to a future with less corruption, less coercion, less division. 

And then finally let me just say I don't want to preempt him but he will be discussing various forms of assistance that the United States will be offering in some of these areas.  And we’ll have an opportunity to go through some of those forms of assistance and what’s behind them after he’s had the opportunity to consult with leaders there.  So I’ll look forward to coming back to briefing you in greater detail on that over the next 24 hours or so.

Q    Are you talking about --

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Yes.

Q    -- beyond economic assistance?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Well, there’s a package of economic and energy and governance assistance that he’ll be discussing.  And we, as you saw, just recently announced a latest tranche of security assistance, nonlethal security assistance.  And he’ll have the opportunity to speak with the government about what more is needed and what more we could provide in the period ahead.

Q    So there’s a package that includes economic, energy and discussion of further security assistance.  Is that right?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Well, the package I’m describing includes economic, energy and governance assistance.  On the question of security assistance, that's something we’ll be consulting with the Ukrainian leadership about.

Q    What kind of energy assistance can the U.S. provide broadly?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  We have a wide range of technical expertise and then forms of technical assistance in four areas.  The first is how to address this immediate reverse flow issue, and we already have a team on the ground to deal with that.  The second is technical assistance to help them be able to boost production in their conventional gas fields, where presently they aren’t getting the maximum of what they could be.  Third, technical assistance relating to a regulatory framework, and also the technology that would be required to extract unconventional gas resources; and Ukraine has meaningful reserves of unconventional gas according to the latest estimates.  And then finally various forms of technical assistance relating to energy efficiency, where experts have shown that the Ukraine could substantially lessen its energy dependence and deny any country the capacity to use energy as a political weapon through a combination of all those things, but in no small part through greater energy efficiency and use of its existing energy.

Q    The economic assistance, does that mean money?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I think the biggest piece of business beyond the $1 billion loan guarantee and bringing to closure the IMF and helping also to shepherd the European money will be teams that we can put on the ground to help ensure that that money is allocated in an effective way.  Technical assistance teams from the Treasury Department and elsewhere.  And when I say effective, I mean in keeping with what the IMF and Ukraine have agreed, but also in keeping with everyone’s desire to ensure that all parts of Ukraine benefit from this assistance -- the east and the south, as well as the center and the west.

Q    The violence that broke out on Sunday, in the context of the international agreement, there seemed to be a lot of finger-pointing between Russian and Ukrainian officials about what happened.  Do you have a sense of who is to blame and whether -- how that might affect that agreement?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  The situation regarding the incident outside of Slavyansk is still very murky.  What the Ukrainian government says is that it was a provocation by the pro-Russian forces manning roadblocks there, and that they have no evidence that there was any either Ukrainian security service involvement or involvement by people coming from Kyiv or elsewhere.  We have nothing to suggest that there was either, but we don't have 100 percent of the facts on that, and part of the reason for that, of course, is that it has been difficult for monitors to travel in and around Slavyansk because the pro-Russian separatists there with Russia standing behind them have not permitted the type of international observation that should be permitted.  And we think that the best way to ensure that those kinds of incidents don't happen again would be for the Russian government to follow through on its commitment to use every influence it has to get these pro-Russian separatists to lay down their arms, to de-occupy buildings, to take down roadblocks and to allow the political process to run its course.

Q    You’ve talked about cohesion, that that's part of the Vice President’s message through all of this.  You guys haven’t really talked to that up till now.  And so can you talk about what the thinking is behind that, and why he’s going to be going with that message at this particular time?  And kind of what the expectations are in terms of getting different factions on board? Is he planning on having some kind of specific takeaway?  Or is it more of a general discussion?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Let me start by staying obviously Ukraine’s future -- its political decisions, its economic decisions -- are up to Ukrainians.  And the United States wants to support its free choices in that regard, not to try to dictate any outcomes.

But his focus on unity comes from sort of three bases.  The first is that the Ukrainian government itself has placed an increasingly high premium on pressing for a sense of national unity and has conducted increasingly vigorous outreach to the east and the south, including just this past Friday, when Prime Minister Yatsenyuk spoke about decentralization proposals, spoke about cultural and linguistic traditions.  And the Vice President wants to support that.

Second, there are currently ongoing threats to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.  And the most effective response for Ukraine to that is for the whole country to pull together to push back on those threats and to say we want to take our country forward in a way free from violence, and at the ballot box rather than with arms.

And then third, Ukraine faces substantial urgent challenges right now on a number of different levels.  And only if every aspect of the country gets united behind a game plan to tackle those challenges will they be able to make progress.  That's true with respect to stabilizing the situation on the ground.  It’s true with respect to following through on constitutional reform and elections.  It’s true with stabilizing a very fragile economy.  And it’s true with dealing with an energy situation that remains precarious.  So for all of those reasons, the Vice President feels that the United States’ support for efforts to pull the country together are especially important at this time.

Q    We’re not going to hear at all from him today, right?  The Vice President.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  You’re not going to hear from him today.  You’ll hear from him multiple times tomorrow.

Q    Did the President task him with a specific message?  Or can you talk at all about kind of what President Obama said -- told the Vice President before he left and kind of whether he’s carrying a message from him, or what his goals are in that sense?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Most of what I’ve laid out here is the product of conversations between the President and the Vice President in the run-up to the trip in terms of the issues we’re emphasizing and what we’re trying to accomplish.  I don't want to get into their private conversations, but he will speak directly with the Prime Minister about the President’s perspective on this, and also about the President’s commitment to support the government and to support the broader effort at following through on these various lines of effort.

In terms of what this government has been doing or attempting to do on the economy, on the elections, on constitutional reform, on all the areas that we’ve been discussing, it’s been a very encouraging set of steps that they’ve been trying to take in the face of pretty enormous challenges.  And I think the President and the Vice President want to make sure that the Prime Minister understands that the United States wants to find every way that it can to support those efforts.

Q    -- been vigorous outreach from the Ukrainian government to the south and the east.  Can you give a few examples of the kind of outreach that you think has been very effective and other steps that the U.S. would like to continue to see progress on?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I think I said increasingly vigorous, and that's important because it’s been building over time.  And we want to continue to encourage that.  Obviously, the leadership in Kyiv has a lot to deal with, but this is as much at the top of the list as anything else.  And what I mean is both private conversations among leaders in Kyiv and those representing political interests in the south and the east.  I mean officials who have been appointed by this interim government who are out in the oblasts in the east trying to speak with people across the political spectrum there to figure out how we can design -- how they can design a decentralization process that really works.  I mean the Prime Minister himself addressing directly the concerns of some of the citizens in the east and south, including his comment -- or his pledge regarding the Russian language.

I’m referring also to the work of the constitutional commission, which is a balanced group that reflects significant representation from the south and the east, and is focused on these questions of decentralization and empowering local communities.

So at a variety of different levels you’re seeing more robust interchange within Ukraine, and that's all to the good.  We believe that that has to be sustained and deepened in the days ahead.

Q    We talked a little bit about some of the increase in violence that has been seen in Ukraine in the recent days.  This past weekend, the Ukrainian Prime Minister said that really the only person responsible for containing that is Putin.  Do you expect that we should hear some sort of direct message to President Putin from Vice President Biden during this trip, any sort of direct message -- either from the President or just from the administration in general?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Well, first of all, President Obama spoke with President Putin last week and was able to deliver the message in the most direct fashion possible -- person-to-person.  And what he told President Putin is the same thing that we’ve been saying publicly which is that really Russia has a choice to make here.  They can contribute to a de-escalation process as a responsible actor, which they have not been -- and going back to their illegal annexation/occupation of Crimea, have proven to be just the opposite of that; or they are going to face increasing costs.  And that's something that the President has been very clear about; the Vice President will continue to be clear about.  And we’ll continue to consult with our European partners about.

Q    Does the administration have any sort of updated timeline on that as to when you say these dire consequences, when we would see that?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Well, I didn't say what you just said.  But in terms of the timeframe, Geneva was decided Thursday.  The OSCE has been working over the weekend.  We haven’t seen the kind of progress that, of course, we would like.  We’d like to see every building vacated as soon as possible.  And we’ve seen certain activities that have been discouraging like the shooting at the roadblock outside of Slavyansk.  But I’m not going to put a precise timetable on it.  I will just say that this is not going to be an open-ended process.  This is going to be a situation where we take stock and determine in the relatively near term what our next step should be.

Q    What does that mean?  Because you guys were indicating as recently as Friday that it would be days.  So when you say --

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Nothing has changed since Friday. 

Q    Okay, so days would mean by the end of this week, right?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Like I said, I’m not going to put a precise timeframe on it, only to say that we’re heading into Monday here.  And what we said on Friday was that we would be looking at this in the coming days to determine whether there was progress or whether there wasn’t.  And that still stands.

Q    Could you just say how this trip came about?  Obviously the Vice President has a long history of diplomatic relations with Ukraine.  Was this something that was his initiative?  Did the President ask him to go because of those relationships?  Or how did that come?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  The reason I’m pausing here is it’s one of those -- it’s one of those conversations where it’s a little hard to say whether the President asked him or he said I want to go.  It grew out of a conversation that the two of them had, and both of them agreed that it was important for the U.S. to send a high-level signal of support for all of the lines of effort that this government is undertaking.

Obviously, the most pressing and acute right now is the security situation.  But these other lines of effort are also existential for Ukraine.  Its politics, its economics and its energy also matter acutely, and so they felt it was important to have somebody with deep ties to and a deep passion for the U.S.-Ukraine relationship to come and send that message both privately and publicly.  And there’s no better messenger for that than the Vice President.  So that's what brings us here, and we’ll make sure that over the next 24 hours we keep you guys up to date in terms of how those conversations are going and how a very fast moving situation is unfolding on the ground.

Obviously as we’ve been flying things have been happening in Ukraine.  It’s early afternoon now.  So we’ll make sure that we stay in touch here over the next 24-36 hours.

Q    What’s been happening -- is there anything significant that’s happened while we’ve been in the air?  I’m just sort of curious.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Nothing that I would come back here to announce.

Thanks, guys.

Q    Thank you very much.

END
2:23 P.M. (Local)

Vice President Biden to Travel to Brazil for the FIFA World Cup

WASHINGTON, DC – The Vice President will travel to the Federative Republic of Brazil in June to attend the 2014 FIFA World Cup.  While in Brazil, the Vice President will attend a game of the U.S. national team. 

Additional details about the Vice President’s trip will be released at a later date. 

Readout of the Vice President’s Meeting with Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic of Montenegro

Vice President Biden met today with Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic at the White House.  Vice President Biden praised Montenegro as a valuable partner to the United States and contributor to peace and security in the region.  The two leaders discussed developments in the Balkans as well as concerns about continued Russian pressure on Ukraine.  The Vice President welcomed the strong progress Montenegro has made in meeting the requirements for NATO membership and expressed steadfast U.S. support for Montenegro’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations.  He encouraged the Prime Minister to sustain its efforts in making defense, security, and rule of law reforms in order to show concrete achievements in advance of the 2014 NATO summit in Wales.  In this context, the Vice President stressed the importance of robust efforts to strengthen democratic institutions, including an independent judiciary and a free press, as well as to protect minority rights.