WASHIGTON, March 29 – The U.S. on Monday has offered support to Ukraine in combating corruption and implementing reforms in order to deliver ‘justice, security and prosperity,’ the White House said in a statement.

The statement was issued following a phone call between U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Ukrainian Presidential Office Head Andriy Yermak.

“Mr. Sullivan affirmed the United States’ unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and Euro-Atlantic aspirations, in the face of continuing aggression,” the statement said.

Sullivan “also relayed the Biden Administration’s commitment to revitalize our strategic partnership in support of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plan to tackle corruption and implement a reform agenda that delivers justice, security, and prosperity to the people of Ukraine,” the statement said.

U.S. President Joe Biden has so far delayed his first phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in an apparent attempt to force Kyiv to fight corruption and accelerate reforms, the Washington Post reported earlier this month.

“The new U.S. administration is seeking to induce Mr. Zelensky to tackle his own country’s endemic corruption — something that is vital to stabilizing its economy and preserving its fragile independence from Russia,” the Washington Post said in the editorial.

Zelenskiy, a former actor and political neophyte, was elected in 2019 on a promise to take on the oligarchs, dirty judges and mafia networks that have plagued Ukraine since it gained independence from the Soviet Union.

“But last year he retreated, firing reformers in his cabinet and the central bank president, and stalling on judicial reforms and action against oligarchs,” the editorial said. “In particular, Zelenskiy waffled on taking on Ihor Kolomoisky, the tycoon whose television network propelled him to the presidency.”

The backsliding has caused the International Monetary Fund to withhold disbursements on a $5 billion loan deal, without which Ukraine may be unable to make debt payments later this year.

Biden was a strong supporter of Ukraine’s independence as vice president, visiting the country and demanding the dismissal of a corrupt state prosecutor. The new administration is renewing that pro-reform policy: In a phone call to Mr. Zelensky’s foreign minister last month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken “highlighted the importance of Ukraine maintaining progress on fighting corruption and implementing rule of law and economic reforms,” according to an official statement. Last week, the Biden administration followed up by sanctioning Mr. Kolomoisky on grounds of corruption, sending an unmistakable message about its expectations. (tl/ez)