U.S. Assistant Deputy Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Thomas O. Melia has stated that Washington opposes the isolation of Ukraine as a response to the political persecution of opposition leaders in the country.
"We don’t want to isolate Ukraine. We don’t want to push Ukraine away. We want to attract Ukraine [to democratic development]," he said at a meeting with Ukrainian public activists and journalists in Kyiv on May 16.
Melia added that U.S. representatives have made a number of public statements on selective justice in Ukraine and expressed their concern while meeting with the Ukrainian government officials.
At the same time, Melia said that the Ukrainian people would choose the further path for their country’s development, and not Washington or Brussels.
"Neither Washington nor Brussels will make this decision. And I hope that no other country in the world will [make this decision]," he said.
