Washington roundtable to take measure of U.S.-Ukraine strategic partnership (09/09/01)

Washington roundtable to take measure of U.S.-Ukraine strategic partnership

WARREN, Mich. - Government leaders and international foreign-policy experts will gather in Washington, to analyze Ukraine's strategic role in world and regional affairs at a follow-up conference to last year's successful inaugural session called "Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation Statehood: Roundtable II - Taking Measure of a U.S.-Ukraine Strategic Partnership."

This year's gathering will be held at the U.S. Congress on Thursday and Friday, September 20-21. According to the conference organizer, the Organization for the Defense of Four Freedoms for Ukraine, the roster of speakers will include government officials from Ukraine, the United States and Eastern European countries, as well as prominent leaders from financial institutions, research centers and academia.

The conference will feature 13 panels, divided among four principal sessions, two working lunches, two focus sessions and an evening reception. Seventy-three speakers - 24 of whom are expected to be from Ukraine - will be featured at the conference.

"Over the course of the past decade, relations between the United States and Ukraine have undergone significant change. Two principal, overarching factors have emerged which today constitute and justify the strategic nature of that relationship: global security and regional stability. Beyond these core considerations, there are critical direct benefits to be derived from a strong bilateral relationship, observed Bohdan Fedorak, president of the sponsoring organization.

Mr. Fedorak noted that the purpose of the conference is to objectively assess the capacity of the United States and Ukraine to make the requisite political, economic, diplomatic and military commitments to the realization of these strategic goals. This year's conference will be held on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Ukraine's restored independence.

Three ministers of foreign affairs of independent Ukraine as well as other current and past Ukrainian government officials will analyze Ukraine's strategic role in world and regional affairs. Minister of Foreign Affairs Anatoliy Zlenko will be joined at the two-day conference by two of his predecessors in that post, Hennadii Udovenko and Borys Tarasiuk. These three Ukrainian foreign-policy experts forged, in the decade since Ukraine declared its independent statehood, a balanced foreign policy that has sought to maintain regional stability while seeking integration into Euro-Atlantic political and economic structures.

Former Prime Minister of Ukraine Viktor Yuschenko and Viktor Stelmakh, chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine, also are slated to appear. Mr. Yuschenko, regarded by Western political observers as the leading reformer in Ukraine, and his government were brought down last spring by a coalition of Communists and other left-wing parliamentarians.

Leading American foreign policy experts from the Bush Administration, Capitol Hill and research institutes will discuss U.S.-Ukraine strategic relations. Heading this group of distinguished specialists are: Douglas Feith, undersecretary of defense for policy; Paula Dobriansky, undersecretary of state for global affairs; Alan Larson, undersecretary of state for economic, business and agricultural affairs; Sen. Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; Cameron Munter, director of European and Eurasian affairs, National Security Council; Nancy Lee, deputy assistant secretary of treasury for Eurasia; Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, counselor, Center for Strategic and International Studies; John McLaughlin, producer and program host, "The McLaughlin Group"; among others.

For information on attendance, contact the Organization for the Defense of Four Freedoms for Ukraine at (810) 757-7910.

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