BERLIN, February 24. /ITAR-TASS/. The European Union, in particular, Germany, are searching opportunities to help Ukraine stabilize its economy, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the ZDF Second German TV channel on Monday.

“In the event of its bankruptcy and inability to pay Ukraine would become a too heavy burden both for its big neighbor in the east (Russia) and for the European Union,” he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel had already started searching “the ways and opportunities for economic stabilization in Ukraine,” he said.

Steinmeier noted that if an agreement on the crisis settlement in Ukraine were not concluded until the end of last week, the situation "would undoubtedly turn into a civil war".