UK`s Osborne says ready to provide assistance to Ukraine through IMF, EU

Singapore: Britain stands ready to provide support to Ukraine through schemes set up by the IMF and European Union, British finance minister George Osborne said on Monday. "It`s very, very early days, early hours, but the people of Ukraine seem to have demonstrated their wish to take their country into the future, to have stronger links with Europe, and I don`t think we should be repelling that, we should be embracing that," he said speaking to journalists in Singapore.

"We should be there ready to provide financial assistance through organisations like the IMF, and of course alot of this will take the form of loans and the like, but there will be good investments in the economy of Ukraine". Ukraine`s interim leadership pledged on Sunday to put the country back on course for European integration now that Moscow-backed Viktor Yanukovich had been ousted from the presidency. European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will travel to Ukraine on Monday, where she is expected to discuss measures to shore up the ailing economy.