WASHINGTON, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The White House on Thursday condemned the violence taking place in Kiev, urged all sides to de-escalate, and threatened sanctions against Ukraine if the situation there did not improve.
White House spokesman Jay Carney told a briefing that the tensions in the country were a direct result of the government failing to acknowledge the "legitimate" grievances of its people.
The United States urged the Ukraine government to repeal anti-democratic legislation that was recently signed into law, Carney said.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Chris Reese)
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