Clinton administration reassures Ukrainian community (08/24/97)

Clinton administration reassures Ukrainian community

by R.L. Chomiak
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

WASHINGTON - The Clinton administration recently trotted out its leading operatives dealing with U.S. policy toward Ukraine to reassure the Ukrainian American community that relations between the two countries continue to develop on the right track.

The August 4 briefing was organized under the aegis of Vice-President Al Gore's office, since he is the co-chair - with President Leonid Kuchma - of the U.S.-Ukraine Binational Commission. (The full commission met in Washington in mid-May, but it operates virtually on a daily basis through its four thematic committees and through personal contacts among the officials in Kyiv and Washington who staff these committees.)

According to one of the Ukrainian Americans who was at the briefing (the news media were not invited to attend), Leon Feurth, an aide to the vice-president, paid special tribute to President Kuchma for his efforts in getting all the members of NATO to approve the special charter between Ukraine and the North Atlantic Alliance.

Ambassador Richard Morningstar, who coordinates U.S. policy toward countries of the former Soviet Union, also praised the Ukrainian president's role in these intricate negotiations, and expressed his personal admiration for the mastery of Ukrainian diplomats who held their own against the more experienced diplomats of the NATO countries in fine-tuning the rare agreement.

A meeting participant told this correspondent that Ambassador Morningstar said the U.S. is satisfied with the Ukraine-NATO charter because it considers Ukraine's security a key element in the security policy of the United States.

The ambassador, who earlier this year was dismayed at what he saw as a return to the Soviet management of Ukrainian agriculture and said he had made his feelings known to then-Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, told the Ukrainian community leaders that while the U.S. has every intention to maintain close relations with Ukraine, it is not always clear whether Ukraine is capable of putting through all the needed reforms, particularly in the areas of the nation's economy, energy and agriculture. This, he said, is the reason the International Monetary Fund was cutting back its loan commitments to Ukraine, and why the U.S. Congress is putting up barriers against disbursement of American aid to Ukraine.

Other briefers included Bruce Connuck and Ross Wilson, who watch developments in Ukraine at the State Department. Janet Benton Fort, a new staff member at the National Security Council who had been deputy ambassador in Kazakstan, talked about the important role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), both in the United States and in Ukraine. One of them suggested that additional assistance to women in Ukraine would allow them to take a more active part in building the new Ukrainian society.

The briefing took place in Room 180 of the ornate Old Executive Office Building on the White House grounds. The room once served as a private office for Vice- Presidents Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey and George Bush. Vice-President Gore did not participate in the briefing for Ukrainian community representatives, but his schedulers arranged for him to drop in and shake hands with the participants.

Among the organizations represented at the briefing were: Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, Ukrainian American Coordinating Council, Ukrainian National Women's League of America, Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine, U.S.-Ukraine Foundation and The Washington Group.

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