White House conducts teleconference call with Ukrainian Americans (05/21/00)

White House conducts teleconference call with Ukrainian Americans

by Michael Sawkiw Jr.
Ukrainian National Information Service

WASHINGTON - As a preview of the issues and events surrounding President Bill Clinton's June 5-6 trip to Ukraine, the White House Office of Public Liaison held a conference call with representatives from various Ukrainian American organizations and institutions.

Nearly 25 members of the Ukrainian American community participated in a telephone conference call on Tuesday, May 17, with John Tedstrom, director for Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian affairs at the National Security Council (NSC). In his presentation on Mr. Clinton's trip to Ukraine, Mr. Tedstrom outlined the president's schedule in Kyiv and addressed key issues that would surely be raised at meetings with Ukrainian government officials.

The president's agenda in Ukraine will include meetings with various Ukrainian government officials, including President Leonid Kuchma, Prime Minister Yuschenko, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ivan Pliushch and other Ukrainian leaders.

His schedule also calls for an evening reception with "Next Generation" leaders from across the entire spectrum of Ukrainian society, which will highlight the U.S. government's "Next Generation" initiative. This program has been designed to increase the number of exchanges from Ukraine to the United States for high school, college and graduate-level students, as well as young business leaders and civil servants.

On the morning of June 6 President Clinton will deliver a public speech to all Kyivans on the grounds of the newly reconstructed St. Michael's Cathedral complex.

In a dialogue with the National Security Council official, many of the Ukrainian American participants discussed key issues on the president's agenda. Among the issues mentioned were: the U.S. government's support for commercial law reform in Ukraine as a basis for continued and sustained economic activity; progress towards accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO); and permanent normal trade relations (NTR) status for Ukraine.

Other issues of importance for Ukraine touched upon during the conference call were equal rights for women in Ukraine, health-care concerns, education of a new generation of business leaders and the closure of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. Chornobyl is a key area of concern for both the United States and Ukraine, as Ukraine has agreed to close the nuclear power plant by the end of this year, yet lacks the requisite financing to complete the shutdown.

In concluding the hourlong conference, Mr. Tedstrom emphasized the positive aspects of Ukraine's foreign policy since its independence. Mr. Tedstrom added that Ukraine's strategic objective should be to achieve similarly positive results in its domestic economic policies to help improve the standard of living.

The conference call was organized in part by Julian Kulas of 1st Security Federal Savings Bank and the Ukrainian National Information Service (UNIS).

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