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European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker says the European Union will give Ukraine 600 million euros ($640 million) to bolster government finances.

Juncker, speaking on February 10 after talks with Ukraine Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroysman, said the country had pressed ahead with reforms despite difficult conditions and that the EU should now make good on its aid pledges.

"We have a strategic partnership with Ukraine and our future relations will develop along these lines," he told reporters after the meeting.

Hroysman said it was very important to send a strong signal to Ukrainians that ties with the EU were "a positive result and would improve their lives."

Juncker also said he expects that visa liberalization for citizens of Ukraine, long sought by Kyiv, would be in place by the middle of the year.

The EU and Ukraine have signed an Association Agreement and a free-trade deal to bolster Ukraine's struggling economy, with Brussels offering 3.4 billion euros in loans to help Kyiv balance public spending.

The EU has so far handed over 2.2 billion euros, with disbursements tied to progress on political and economic reforms.

Western governments and analysts say that swifter, more thorough reforms would reduce the influence of Russia, which seized the Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 and backs separatists in a war that has killed more than 9,750 people since April 2014.

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EU's Juncker Promises Ukraine 600 Million Euros In Aid - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty

The United States might waver on Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia but Europe will not, the European Union's foreign policy chief said Friday, so long as a standing agreement to stop the fighting in Ukraine is not fully implemented.

After meetings in Washington, D.C. with lawmakers and administration officials, Federica Mogherini expressed some uncertainty about whether the United States would maintain sanctions on Russia related to the Kremlin's support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.

"The European position is clear on this. I am confident it will continue to be clear in unity," she said during an event at the Atlantic Council. "But I cannot answer for the U.S. I can say I was receiving reassuring messages. But I don't know if there will be divisions in the U.S. on this. I hope not."

Mogherini said that during her visit, administration officials agreed to maintain sanctions on Russia until a 2015 cease-fire deal to stop the fighting in Ukraine, known as the Minsk agreement, is fully implemented. However, she was unsure of whether that position would stick.

"My meetings were positive and in particular we agreed that as long as the Minsk agreements are not fully implemented, sanctions will remain in place," she said. "But I don't know if this is going to be the consolidated policy."

"I was not in the Oval Office when President Trump called President Putin, but for us, this is an essential point," she said.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was especially open to discussions about how to implement the Minsk agreement, she added, and noted that Congress is also unified on keeping sanctions pressure on Russia.

"I believe that this is not an essential point only for Europeans. I think that in Congress this is an essential point as well," she said.

Tillerson indicated support for providing lethal aid to Ukraine in the fight against Russian-backed separatists during his confirmation hearing. Other Trump administration officials have said that sanctions related to Ukraine will be maintained until Russia ceases its activities there.

Still, lawmakers, unsettled by President Trump's vows to improve relations with the Kremlin, have introduced legislation to codify and ramp up Russia sanctions, as well as legislation that would slow potential moves to lift them.

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EU Stands Behind Ukraine-Related Sanctions on Russia Regardless of US Action - The Weekly Standard

Kiev expected to reach a deal with the International Monetary Fund by the end of the month to allow the next tranche of aid, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said, and blamed Russia for renewed fighting flared in eastern Ukraine.

Speaking after the biggest surge in violence in Ukraines industrial east of the country for more than a year, Mr Groysman also called on new United States President Donald Trump to provide defensive weapons to Ukraine to bring Moscow back into peace talks.

We have practically completed negotiations (with the IMF) and only a few nuances remain, he said of talks with the global lender to unlock the latest series of loans under Ukraines $17.5 billion bailout by the end of the month.

Mr Groysman said Kiev intended to cooperate with the US-based lender but that the IMF needed to have realistic expectations on what Ukraine could achieve in terms of judicial reforms that are holding up talks.

Its important that all the conditions... have realistic deadlines, he told Reuters during a two-day visit to Brussels where he met officials from the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

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Ukraine PM sees IMF deal by end-Feb amid new fighting in east - Times of Malta

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It's Time For Trump To Call Ukraine's 'Pro-Russian Rebels' What They Are: Russian Invaders Forbes In his response, President Trump raised the key question, which those seeking to counter Russia in the east Ukraine war have judiciously avoided. Although we know that the pro-Russian forces fight with Russian equipment, Russian mercenaries, and ... In its fight against Putin, Ukraine feels abandoned by the WestCNN Putin to Trump: Lift Sanctions Or Ukraine Gets ItNewsweek Ukraine tries to persuade Donald Trump not to give up on itThe Economist Deutsche Welle -UPI.com -Anadolu Agency all 118 news articles »

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It's Time For Trump To Call Ukraine's 'Pro-Russian Rebels' What They Are: Russian Invaders - Forbes

Forbes

Russia's Baltic Sea Pipeline Scares The Life Out Of Ukraine Forbes Despite opposition last year from anti-trust authorities in Poland, Russia is not backing down. Energy giant Gazprom insists it will build the Nord Stream II pipeline through the Baltic Sea even if it has to do it alone. The pipeline will sit right ... and more »

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Russia's Baltic Sea Pipeline Scares The Life Out Of Ukraine - Forbes