MOSCOW, December 15 (Sputnik) — Moscow is ready to take part in a donor conference on aid to Ukraine if the political situation allows, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said Monday.
"I think if such a conference takes place in favourable political conditions, Russia could certainly take part in it," Karasin said.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk called on the West last week to convene an international donor conference to discuss the provision of additional $15 billion in financial aid in order to prevent a default in the war-torn and recession-battered country.
On December 9, Yatsenyuk said the Ukrainian government was ready to cut the country's spending and take decisive measures against the shadow economy amid Ukraine's struggles with dire economic conditions.
Back in April, International Monetary Fund (IMF) made available $17 billion to Ukraine, with the country having already received more than $8 billion since then. Funding was also expected from the World Bank and some other international sources.
On Monday, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an opinion piece in Russia's Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper that Ukraine was about to face social and economic collapse, as it remained unclear how the country intended to pay off its outstanding foreign debt.
