Diplomat: US to back compromise solution to Tymoshenko issue jointly found by Ukraine and EU
The U.S. Department of State has said that the United States will support any solution to the issue of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko found jointly by Ukraine and the European Union.
"The U.S. position is that we support Ukraine's reaching agreement with the EU on the signing of the Association Agreement, as we believe it will be good for Ukraine, for Europe and for the whole region. And we hope that Ukraine and the EU will find a way to solve this issue before the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius," Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the U.S. Department of State Thomas O. Melia told Ukrainian journalists in Kyiv on Thursday, while answering a question from Interfax-Ukraine.
He said that the EU had set up a special mission of observers Pat Cox and Aleksander Kwasniewski, which is trying to help resolve this problem.
"We support this mission and we support any decision that is achieved with the consent of the Ukrainian side," he said.
When asked whether the United States will be pleased with the option of Tymoshenko's returning to prison after treatment in Germany, Melia said: "We would like to see Tymoshenko be released for the provision of medical care to her or in some way or other that is acceptable to Ukrainian politicians. We have always said that this is politically motivated prosecution and that the ex-premier should not be in prison."
