13 Sep 2019 20:11

U.S. provides Ukraine with equipment for broadcasts in Donbas

KYIV. Sept 13 (Interfax) - The United States will continue to support Ukrainian broadcasting and freedom of the media, including in the areas not under Kyiv's control, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent said.

"The United States has long supported freedom of media in Ukraine and access to diverse, objective news and information. We have supported our Ukrainian partners' latest efforts by providing high quality broadcasting equipment that will provide quality Ukrainian content to over four million residents in the south and east of Ukraine. This will include as many as two million who currently do not have access to Ukrainian broadcasting," the U.S. embassy to Ukraine quoted Kent as saying at a press conference in Kyiv on Friday.

This broadcasting equipment should provide the people living in the non-government controlled areas with access "to a diverse range of public and commercial stations, similar to anywhere else in Ukraine," he said.

"This investment that we make together in those regions today will help ensure a stronger, united Ukraine in the future," Kent said.

Last year, Ukraine updated its Information Reintegration Strategy for Donbas and Crimea to extend Ukrainian broadcasting to regions where it is most needed, he said.

"Since 2014, the United States has provided over $3 billion in assistance to Ukraine, including in the spheres of: security; economics and energy; governance and information," Kent said.

"The United States will continue to stand with Ukraine, support efforts to resist Russian malign influence, and to build a more democratic, prosperous, secure Ukraine," he said.