US, Ukraine fight human trafficking

WASHINGTON – The United States and Ukraine say they will step up efforts to combat human trafficking in the eastern European country.

Experts say more than 100,000 Ukrainians have been trafficked abroad and forced into indentured labor or prostitution since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Ukraine's Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko signed an agreement Tuesday to fight what Clinton called the "tragic worldwide blight" of trafficking.

She said cooperation would be strengthened. One effort she cited was Ukraine's recent transfer to the United States of a trafficker who made $1 million in profits from the women he exploited.

Clinton and Gryshchenko also discussed nuclear proliferation, democratic reform, HIV/AIDS and investment opportunities.