Ukraine hopes Trump is 'no Tsar', will not abandon Kiev

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko makes a statement after talks on a stalled peace plan for eastern Ukraine with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Francois Hollande in Berlin, Germany, October 20, REUTERS/Martin Schlicht

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian authorities are laying the groundwork for President Petro Poroshenko to visit Washington early next year, hoping to shore up U.S. support against Russia and allay concerns about what a Donald Trump presidency means for Kiev.

Ukraine has relied on Western support and economic aid since street protests in 2014 which toppled a Kremlin-backed president and were followed by a war with pro-Russian separatists and Russia's annexation of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine.