LONDON, May 25. /TASS/. The United Kingdom opposes the idea of granting Ukraine a visa-free regime with the European Union, Michael Binyon, a leading foreign correspondent for The Times newspaper, has told TASS in an interview.

"I would say that Britain will certainly not agree to that. Firstable, there is a lot organized crime in Ukraine. I mean there are a lot of oligarchs, people with very dubious financial and criminal records. And we don’t want these mafia groups coming from Ukraine. Secondly, Ukraine is very poor and if they come, they come looking for work," he said.

Lifting visa requirements is only possible when a country has a stable and effective government, Binyon said, adding that the problem with Ukraine is that Kiev has had "such a poor government for so long."

Now Ukraine is asking for a $40 billion package, he said stressing: "Nobody in the West wants to pay for Ukraine."

The Times correspondent also commented on the lack of recent official statements of the British politicians on the situation in Ukraine. He said that Britain’s position is now to "wait and see."

"It all depends on the Minsk agreement, if both sides observe it, there is a feeling that it will gradually calm down. If the Minsk agreement works then, I think the EU will be ready to consider removing the sanctions [against Russia] or not renewing them," he said.