Washington Preparing USD 1 B Ukraine Loan, Says John Kerry

US Secretary of State John Kerry (C) shakes hands with Ukrainian interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk (R) and Ukrainian interim President Oleksandr Turchynov (L) during their meeting in Kiev. Photo by EPA/BGNES

US Secretary of State John Kerry met with officials from the interim Ukrainian government in the capital Kiev on Tuesday.

Kerry visited Independence Square, the scene of the mass anti-government riots, which left nearly 100 people dead. He laid flowers for those who had lost their lives.

"It is clear that Russia has been working hard to create a pretext for being able to invade further", Kerry told reporters, cited by The New York Times.

"It is not appropriate to invade a country and at the end of a barrel of a gun dictate what you are trying to achieve. That is not 21st-century, G8, major-nation behavior", he added.

Kerry signaled the US's intent to grant the new Ukrainian leadership a USD 1 B financial aid package.

The United States will also send technical experts to help Ukraine's national bank and Finance Ministry, provide advice on fighting corruption, and train election monitors to help establish the legitimacy of Ukraine's coming election.

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