Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday urged the government of Ukraine to weed out corruption, saying that mistrust and abuse of power are “corrosive” to its progress.
“This needs to be a government that exists to serve the people, not enrich the powerful,” he said during remarks at the Atlantic Council in Washington DC.
Noting his meetings with top Ukrainian officials during a trip the country last week, Biden said “there is a common view, east and west, that the government has to begin to deliver, that corruption is incredibly corrosive.”
The vice president also announced that President Barack Obama will stop in nearby Poland during a European trip scheduled for June, and he reiterated that the U.S. and its allies must be “resolute" in imposing costs on Russia for its aggression in Ukraine.
Saying that NATO has “never been more relevant,” Biden noted that the challenges faced by Europe are daunting but that they can be overcome “if we remained joined at the hip, if we remain united and steadfast.”