Remarks of the Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk during the session of the Government on August 29, 2014

Yatsenyuk A.P.: Dear members of the Cabinet of Ministers! Today the agenda of the Government’s session contains three issues: the first is the new academic year, the second - the IMF, the third - NATO.

I have had several conversations with our western partners.

First, the Japanese Government decided to grant $ 100 million of macro-financial assistance for Ukraine, today we shall get this sum of 100 million dollars.

Second, the Government of Ukraine have satisfied all the conditions to obtain another tranche of the IMF. In a few hours in Washington there will start a meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund. I hope this decision will be positive, and the IMF and the entire world will demonstrate support for Ukraine.

Overall, Ukraine can receive from the IMF and the World Bank the sum of about USD 2 billion.

The Government does everything in power to stabilize the situation in the economy and helps the National Bank to improve the situation with the currency exchange rate.

A decision of the Board of Governors and this significant resource received by Ukraine will afford Ukraine to live. It is rather hard for us. There is war in the country. The fact that we don’t get any revenues from Donetsk and Luhansk is nothing, as compared to those billions of dollars of losses we suffer from war, ignited by the Russian aggressor and the Russian state.

Therefore, it is critical for us to receive a positive decision by the IMF and we've done everything for that.

We know that this decision will be difficult to adopt, as certain countries don’t want to help Ukraine. But we believe in a positive decision.

Concerning the final issue on the agenda today. Yesterday the National Security and Defence Council was summoned by the President of Ukraine. Pursuant to the decision of the NSDC the Government of Ukraine submits to the Parliament a draft law “On the abolishment of a non-alignment status of the Ukrainian state” and “On the resumption of the course of Ukraine towards NATO membership”.

According to the law, the principal and the sole objective of Ukraine's foreign policy is the acquiring of the European Union’s membership. The mentioned law prohibits the Ukrainian state to take any decision concerning membership in any other economic, political or military alliances, the one which contradicts the principal goal of Ukraine's membership in the European Union. After this law is adopted, Ukraine will be banned to be a member in the Customs or Eurasian, and other various kinds of the so-called unions, which in essence is nothing other than the Soviet Union on behalf of the Russian Federation.

We call upon the President of Ukraine to determine this bill as urgent, following the decision of the NSDC, and upon the Ukrainian Parliament – to consider it urgently.