Biden: Russia to Face Tougher Sanctions if Ukraine Polls Undermined

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday threatened Russia with tougher sanctions if it undermines a crucial presidential election in Ukraine this weekend.

"If Russia undermines these elections on Sunday, we must remain resolute in imposing greater costs," Biden told reporters in Bucharest after meeting with Romanian president Traian Basescu.

The vice president's comments come ahead of his trip to Cyprus later Wednesday, a country belonging to the European Union reluctant to impose stronger sanctions on Moscow.

The Mediterranean island's financial sector is heavily dependent on Russian capital.

"All countries should use their influence to promote a stable environment for Ukrainian citizens to cast their ballots freely," Biden insisted.

He also called on countries in the West, particularly European states, to diversify their sources of energy and better connect their networks.

"We need to ensure that Russia can no longer continue to use its energy resources as a weapon against anyone in the region", he stressed during a press briefing with Romania's Prime Minister Victor Ponta.

While Romania's dependence on Russian gas is quite limited as the country is itself a gas and oil producer, Biden said that Bucharest should help Moldova, a neighboring country "overwhelmingly dependent on Russian gas", reduce its dependency.

Moldova, which sits between Romania and Ukraine, is set to sign an association agreement with the EU on June 27, a move that has angered Russia.

Diplomats fear it could become a new flashpoint.

With elections in Ukraine just days away, Biden praised the pro-Western government in Kiev for its "steps to engage Ukrainians, from all parts of that country, in the east and the south, on issues of constitutional reform".

But he warned against the damaging "cancer of corruption," saying that in Ukraine "a decade and a half of corruption literally has hollowed out the military institutions, weakened the country's very capacity to defend itself."

"Corruption represents a clear and present danger not only to nations' economies but to their very national security", he said in a speech to representatives of civil society.

In what analysts saw as an implicit reference to Russia, he accused some countries of using corruption "as an instrument of foreign policy".

"There are nations, and we’ve seen it recently, that exploit corruption to exercise a malignant influence and undermine the very sovereignty and independence of their neighbors", Biden said.

The vice president also reassured NATO member Romania of Washington's commitment to Article Five of the alliance's charter, which states that an attack on one member is an attack on all.

U.S. defense guarantees have taken on heightened importance in eastern Europe following Russia's annexation of Crimea and its massing of troops on Ukraine's borders and what Washington sees as Moscow's support for pro-Kremlin militia groups during unrest in eastern Ukraine.