President Barack Obama will meet in Washington this week with Ukraine’s interim Prime Minister, in a show of support amid a tense stand-off with Russia over control of Crimea.
Obama will host crisis talks with Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk on Wednesday, US Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken said, confirming earlier reports. “He has invited the Ukrainian Prime Minister to come to the White House on Wednesday to further demonstrate... support,” Blinken told NBC television’s “Meet the Press” program.
Yatsenyuk had earlier announced in Kiev that he would travel to the United States, but gave no details of planned meetings. Blinken said the US leader has been rallying world support for the Kiev’s beleaguered fledgling administration and against Russia’s incursion into the Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.