1992: A LOOK BACK: United States: Ukraine arrives (12/27/92)

1992: A LOOK BACK

United States: Ukraine arrives

by Eugene Iwanciw
UNA Washington Office

While the United States recognized the independence of Ukraine on Christmas Day, 1991, official diplomatic relations were established in Kiev on January 23. At a ceremony at the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Anatoliy Zlenko and U.S. Charge d'Affaires Jon Gundersen exchanged diplomatic notes and toasts regarding full diplomatic relations between the two nations. "I welcome the birth of diplomatic relations between our two countries, our two independent countries," stated Mr. Gundersen who, throughout 1991, witnessed the birth of the new nation from his position as U.S. consul general in Kiev.

Minister Zlenko used the opportunity to announce the formation of an advance team to organize the Ukrainian Embassy in the United States. The team consisted of Serhiy Kulyk as charge d'affaires and Ihor Dunaisky as consular officer. Mr. Kulyk was then serving at the Ukrainian Mission to the United Nations, while Mr. Dunaisky, a Ukrainian foreign service officer, was detailed to the former Soviet Embassy in Washington.

Two weeks later the White House announced the choice of a Ukrainian American, Roman Popadiuk, as President Bush's nominee for the first U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. Mr. Popadiuk, a career foreign service officer, had served as President Bush's deputy press secretary before his nomination as ambassador. The Senate confirmed Mr. Popadiuk as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine on May 25. Arriving in Kiev on June 8, he presented his credentials to President Leonid Kravchuk the following day.

By early February, the Ukrainian Embassy advance team had begun work on the establishment of a full embassy. Operating out of office space donated by George Chopivsky, the two-man advance team, working with the UNA Washington Office, began searching for its own office space. Since Ukraine was short on hard currency, commitments for financial assistance were made by the Ukrainian American community through the Coordinating Committee to Aid Ukraine.

In a February 27 announcement, President Bush stated he had invited President Kravchuk to visit Washington on May 6. This was the Ukrainian president's second trip to the United States in eight months, but his first trip as president of an independent nation recognized by the United States.

In New York, Ambassador Gennadiy Udovenko, a long-time representative of Ukraine at the United Nations and temporary representative of Ukraine to the United States, was bidding farewell to the Ukrainian American community. The ambassador was recalled to Kiev to help develop a professional foreign service corps. On March 18, the new Ukrainian representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Viktor Batiuk, arrived in New York to continue the work of his predecessor.

While Boryspil Airport began issuing Ukrainian visas last year, on February 15, the Foreign Ministry announced that seven additional international entry points in Ukraine also would issue visas. Less than a month later, on March 10, the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington was tasked with yet another function, that of issuing visas to Ukraine. The U.S. Embassy in Kiev began issuing non-immigrant visas for travel to the United States on July 29.

Ukrainian Finance Minister Hryhoriy Pyatachenko met with officials of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank on April 8 and announced, in a press conference that the IMF had unanimously voted to accept Ukraine as a full member. Ukraine will also be allowed up to $3 billion in borrowing authority.

At the invitation of Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney, Ukrainian Minister of Defense Konstantyn Morozov arrived in Washington on April 11. Two days later he was greeted with full military honors, including a 19-gun salute, at the Pentagon by Secretary Cheney, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell, and other high-ranking military officials. In addition to the meetings with Defense Department officials and official functions such as wreath-laying ceremonies at the Taras Shevchenko statue and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington, Minister Morozov and his delegation traveled to various military installations around the country. Those facilities included the Air Force Academy, the U.S. Space Command, the North American Air Defense Command and Nellis Air Force Base, where the minister, an air force general, had an opportunity to fly a U.S. fighter aircraft.

Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Dr. Oleh Bilorus arrived in Washington on April 28. On May 5, just hours prior to the arrival of the Ukrainian president in Washington, Dr. Bilorus presented his credentials to President Bush, thus becoming the first fully accredited Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S.

Later that day, President Kravchuk arrived at Andrews Air Force Base for his third face-to-face meeting with President Bush. Upon arrival by helicopter at the Pentagon, the Ukrainian president was met by Secretary Baker amid full military honors including a 21-gun salute. President Kravchuk and Secretary Baker immediately proceeded to an office in downtown Washington where the president cut a blue-and-yellow ribbon formally establishing the first U.S. Embassy in Washington. After speeches and toasts, they inaugurated the embassy guest book with their signatures.

The following day entailed numerous meetings with President Bush, Vice-President Dan Quayle, Secretary Baker, Secretary Cheney, and Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady. In a public ceremony in the White House East Room, the two presidents signed three agreements, including one granting Ukraine "most favored nation" status, another making Ukraine eligible for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation's (OPIC) programs, and a third on the Peace Corps. The busy day concluded with a visit to Camp David for further meetings followed by a Congressional reception in the U.S. Capitol organized by the UNA Washington Office.

The Washington visit also included a press conference at the National Press Club, appearances on CNN and McNeil-Lehrer, a State Department luncheon hosted by Secretary Baker, a meeting with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and a breakfast meeting with former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski. The Ukrainian president then traveled to Texas, Iowa, New York and Pennsylvania.

Early in the year, President Bush submitted legislation called the "Freedom for Russia and Emerging Eurasian Democracies and Open Markets (FREEDOM) Support Act" which provided the legal basis for aid to the nations of the former Soviet Union. Despite prodding from the administration, Congress proceeded slowly on the proposals. Action finally came on July 2, when the Senate passed the legislation by a vote of 76-20. The House of Representatives, where the vote was expected to be close, passed the bill on August 6 by a vote of 255-164. However, it took until early October before the two houses worked out the differences between the respective bills and enacted the legislation signed into law on October 24.

The appropriation for the legislation was signed into law on October 6. It provides $417 million in humanitarian and technical assistance for the newly independent states. The Freedom Support Act also authorizes $800 from the Department of Defense budget to assist NIS nations in the dismantling of nuclear weapons and $12.3 billion as the U.S. contribution to the IMF, based on which the IMF will be empowered to create currency stabilization funds. Rep. Mary Rose Oakar (D-Ohio) included an amendment in the legislation that specifically targeted Ukraine as a recipient for such a fund. The bill also mandated assistance for the victims of Chornobyl.

During the summer, the Nuclear Regulations Subcommittee of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing specifically on Chornobyl. The July 22 hearing, chaired by Sens. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) and Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), heard testimony from Dr. Zenon Matkiwsky of the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund, Dr. Murray Feshbach of Georgetown University, Dr. Wladimir Wertelecky of the University of South Alabama and Dr. Fred Mettler of the University of New Mexico Medical School. New evidence of the aftereffects of the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear accident was presented to the Senate panel.

In early September, a delegation of 10 Ukrainian parliamentarians, headed by Supreme Council Chairman Ivan Pliushch, visited Washington after spending time in Ohio and visiting the UNA estate, Soyuzivka. The U.S. Information Agency (USIA)-funded program was sponsored by Indiana University and focused on the operations of the U.S. government.

On September 23, Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan announced that the U.S. government would fund a major repair and renovation program for the Shevchenko monument in Washington. Present at the announcement, made at the foot of the statue, were Secretary of Veterans' Affairs Edward Derwinski, Dr. Volodymyr Zabihaylo of the Ukrainian Embassy, and Eugene Iwanciw and Marijka Lischak of the UNA Washington Office, which had alerted Secretary Lujan to the situation.

On October 2, Ukraine expanded its representation in the United States with the establishment of a Consulate in Chicago. Foreign Minister Zlenko dedicated the new consulate and announced that Anatoliy Oliynyk would be the first consul-general. Minister Zlenko then proceeded to Washington for a series of follow-up meetings with U.S. government officials.

While Ukraine is now independent, the repression and persecution Ukrainians underwent during Soviet rule has not been forgotten. On October 20, Sen. Alfonse D'Amato (R-N.Y.) called on President Bush to issue a proclamation commemorating the 60th anniversary of the man-made famine in Ukraine during 1932-1933.

While Ukraine was establishing itself as an independent nation and initiating diplomatic relations with the rest of the world, U.S. attention was focused on the American presidential race. During the primary season, Republican presidential candidate Patrick Buchanan addressed the concerns of Ukrainian Americans during a visit to the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Chicago. Gov. Bill Clinton, seeking to entice the traditionally Republican Ukrainian vote, raised the issue of Ukraine during his August 13 speech in Los Angeles at the World Affairs Council. He again discussed Ukraine during his meeting with ethnic leaders in Milwaukee on October 2.

Late in the year, the UNA Washington Office revitalized and expanded the ethnic coalition which in 1991 successfully sponsored legislation requiring that U.S. aid to the Soviet Union be delivered directly to the republics. To the original coalition members - the Ukrainian National Association, Armenian Assembly of America, Congress of Russian-Americans, Estonian American National Council, Joint Baltic American National Committee, American Latvian Association, Lithuanian-American Community, Project For Peace and U.S. Baltic Foundation - were added the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, Hungarian American Coalition, Polish American Congress, National Federation of American Hungarians and Congress of Romanian Americans. The coalition will be working to brief the new administration and Congress on issues of concern to East European Americans.

As 1992 comes to an end, the United States is preparing for the leadership of a new president and administration, and a Congress with 120 new members. Ukraine, having firmly established its place in the world community, is preparing to build on its existing relationship with the United States. And, the Ukrainian American community, having lobbied so long in Washington for Ukrainian independence, is now shifting to a new role in American politics and a different relationship with Ukraine.

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