Greece calls for international conference on Ukraine

(BUDAPEST) - An international conference should be held on financial aid for Ukraine to keep the country from falling into disorder and default, the foreign minister of Greece, which holds the current EU presidency, said on Monday.

"It's our historical and moral duty to elaborate and to present together with the US, Russia and the competent international organisations a consolidated, integrated project," said Evangelos Venizelos..

"An international conference should be held to help Ukraine avoid bankruptcy," Venizelos told journalists in Budapest after a meeting of central European foreign ministers.

"This would avoid the disorder, the default and deconstruction of Ukraine on a financial and economic level," he said.

Ukraine's interim finance minister Yuriy Kolobov on Monday also called for a conference of international donors. The "planned volume of macroeconomic assistance for Ukraine may reach around $35 billion (25 billion euros)" by the end of next year, he said.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, was in Kiev to discuss EU support for a lasting solution to the political crisis and measures to stabilise the economic situation.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius meanwhile urged Russia to continue to offer financial assistance to Ukraine, saying "there is no time to lose" for the crisis-hit country.