U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko agreed in a telephone call on Wednesday that sanctions against Russia must be tied to the full implementation of the Minsk peace plan, the White House said.
"As long as Russia continues to fuel violence and instability in Ukraine, the international community must be prepared to increase the costs to Russia for pursuing such actions," it said in a statement.
Biden also welcomed the decision by the Rada (Ukrainian parliament) to confer special status on rebel-controlled eastern regions and grant them limited self-rule — but only once local elections had been held under Ukrainian law, which caused anger in Moscow.
