After funnelling billions of dollars to rescue Ukraine’s sinking economy last year, US Vice President Joe Biden visited the parliament in Kiev with one request: tackle the “cancer of corruption.” The West, he warned, is running out of patience.

Ukraine’s politicians, it seems, hadn’t heard or cared. Less than two months later, Aivaras Abromavicius, the economy minister representing the best hope for reform, resigned. No longer, he said, could he put up with the crony appointments to state enterprises under the administration of President Petro Poroshenko.

For the West, the only viable option for Ukraine is to move forward with reforms that have so far been superficial or too slow to materialise.

Political reform historically has been a façade used to engage Western powers and international organisations while continuing with the abuse of privilege. It’s a common thread running through the past administrations of Leonid Kuchma and Viktor Yushchenko – with Viktor Yanukovych taking it to the extreme.

Against such a low benchmark, the reform process has proven the most successful under Poroshenko and his Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk. But – as evidenced by Abromavicius’s resignation – it’s a painstaking process, with plenty of obstruction from members within the ruling coalition.

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The stakes are high. Should the West become disillusioned with the pace of reform and consistent obstruction from entrenched political networks, foreign aid could evaporate. The ensuing political fallout could lead to the collapse of the governing coalition, threatening to undermine what progress has been achieved over the past year.

On the positive side, success in confronting corruption could take Ukraine down a path of meaningful economic progress and, ultimately, finding a peaceful resolution to the stalemate in the divided east of the country.