KIEV, March 3 – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, in a phone call with President Viktor Yanukovych on Thursday, voiced concerns over “selective prosecution” of opposition politicians and warned against legislation that may undermine foreign investment.

Both of these concerns were highlighted in a statement issued by the White House after the call, but were omitted from a report released by the Yanukovych administration.

This is the second public warning from the U.S. in less than three months that the authorities in Ukraine may be resorting to politically motivated prosecution of opposition leaders.

The first warning was made in December 2010 when the law enforcement had begun investigation into alleged abuse of power by Yulia Tymoshenko when had been the prime minister in 2009.

“The Vice President emphasized the importance of avoiding any selective prosecution of opposition officials,” the White House statement said.

The developments highlight the latest trend when European and international leaders have been appealing directly to Yanukovych underscoring the government’s inability to solve the problems.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, at a meeting in Paris in early October 2010, appealed to Yanukovych seeking to stop what could become the government’s move to re-privatize ArcelorMittal Kryvy Rih, Ukraine’s largest steelmaker. Yanukovych later stopped the re-privatization push.

European leaders recently spoke with Yanukovych to convey their concerns that Tymoshenko, due to the ongoing investigation, had been denied liberty to travel.

Yanukovych said later the restriction was “unacceptable,” and Tymoshenko was earlier this week granted the ability to visit her mother in Dnipropetrovsk on March 8.

“European and American officials should make clear to the president - in plain terms, so that nuance is not misread – that the policies of his administration look like democratic backsliding,” two former U.S. ambassadors to Ukraine, Steven Pifer and William Taylor, wrote in a letter recently published by The New York Times.

“They should make equally clear that continuing this course will disappoint Ukraine’s well-wishers around the world and produce a growing divide between Ukraine and Europe,” the two former ambassadors wrote.

Biden also stressed on “the need to avoid any laws or other actions that would undercut the ability of businesses to make [foreign direct] investments,” the White House statement said.

The remark may be aimed against a bill that calls for dramatically increasing in the role of the government in exporting food and agriculture commodities. The bill, if approved and signed by Yanukovych, would hurt significantly many foreign and domestic grain traders.

Yanukovych, in a statement issued by his administration after the phone call with Biden, said that Ukraine “remains open for a constructive dialog on issues of strengthening democracy and the rule of law.”

Pifer and Taylor wrote: “So President Yanukovych faces a choice. He can continue, or allow the continuation of, current domestic policies and watch his chances of integrating Ukraine into Europe fade.

“Or he can strengthen democratic institutions – which, by the way, resulted in his own election last year – and restore positive momentum to the relationship between Ukraine and Europe.” (tl/ez)