In 2014, the Obama administration was trying to support the new Yatsenyuk government in Ukraine diplomatically, and then–Vice-President Joe Biden was "at the forefront" of those efforts.[13] He traveled to Kiev on April 22, 2014, and urged the Ukraine government "to reduce its dependence on Russia for supplies of natural gas".[14] He discussed how the United States could help provide technical expertise for expanding domestic production of natural gas.[15]