Vitaly Yarema meets with the British Ambassador
On Tuesday, March 11, the First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine met with
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Great Britain
to Ukraine Simon Smith.
The sides have focused their attention on the situation in Crimea and the process
of reforming the law enforcement system in Ukraine.
Simon Smith has ensured that the UK Government will continue diplomatic
pressure on Russia for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Crimea. Mr.
Smith has convinced that if the Russian side isn’t ready for a dialogue with
the international community and continues to violate international law, it will
feel the serious consequences of its actions.
Vitaly Yarema has informed the
Ambassador of the decision taken by the National Security and Defence Council
of Ukraine concerning the foundation of a National Guard of Ukraine, composed
of about 20,000 volunteers, including representatives of the Maidan
Self-Defence.
The sides have agreed that the UK provides expert assistance to Ukraine in
reforming the law enforcement system in order to restore confidence in the law
enforcement. Moreover, Ambassador Simon Smith
proposed to use the British experience in the Ukrainian law enforcement system
by establishing an independent police complaints commission.
The First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine stated: "We plan not only
to replace the name "militia "to "police" but also to deep
systemic reform of the entire law enforcement system as well as restore public
confidence in them."
Finally, Vitaly Yarema
added:”Our Government understands that just punitive methods are not enough for
stabilizing the situation in the country and restoring trust in government. Therefore, we are working actively
on systemic economic reforms, setting up business, fighting against corruption”.