Turning the pages back... February 5, 2003 (02/01/04)

Turning the pages back...

February 5, 2003

Last year at about this time, Viktor Yushchenko, the former prime minister of Ukraine who heads the Our Ukraine bloc in the Verkhovna Rada, came to Washington to discuss developments in Ukraine and their effect on U.S.-Ukraine relations with senior members of the Bush administration, congressional leaders and other influential members of the Washington foreign policy establishment.

Our Washington correspondent, Yaro Bihun, reported that what he found after his first day of meetings, on February 5 - with Vice President Dick Cheney, Sen. John McCain, members of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus and former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright - was that the lack of trust between the two countries was lower than it had been at any time over the past 10 years.

On the other hand, he said in an interview with The Ukrainian Weekly, while the officials he met characterized Ukraine as a country that has wasted its potential since independence, they also indicated that the U.S. government "is not indifferent" to the fate of Ukraine as a partner. He said he found a "deep-seated, great interest in Ukraine and a desire to see Ukraine join the 'club of democracies.' " Mr. Yushchenko said he came to Washington because he wanted to hear what American political leaders think about what is happening in Ukraine. He wanted to see how Ukraine's "serious loss of image and low reputation" resulted in its isolation internationally.

Source: "Yushchenko in Washington for discussions with top U.S. officials, foreign policy leaders," by Yaro Bihun, The Ukrainian Weekly, February 9, 2003, Vol. LXXI, No. 6.

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