Holodomor

Holodomor memorial’s “Field of Wheat” is installed

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WASHINGTON – The long-awaited large bronze depiction of a receding field of wheat, memorializing the millions of innocent people who perished during Joseph Stalin’s 1932-1933 Famine-Genocide in Ukraine, arrived here on August 4 and was affixed as the main part of the Holodomor Memorial being erected not far from the U.S. Capitol building. The 6-foot-high-by-35-foot-long bronze casting of the art, titled “Field of Wheat,” created by architect/sculptor Larysa Kurylas was transported to Washington that morning from the Laran Bronze Foundry in Chester, Pa., and, with the help of a dozen professional handlers and a huge crane, the five-ton piece was affixed to the stainless steel bolts in the monument’s foundation. Though some complications arose, they were resolved within less than three hours – much to the delight of an estimated 50 persons who came to witness the event. Among those witnesses were Ukraine’s new ambassador to the United States, Valeriy Chaly, who had presented his letters of credence at the White House to President Barack Obama on the previous day, and Michael Sawkiw, who heads the U.S. Committee for Ukrainian Holodomor Genocide Awareness 1932-1933, which has been in the forefront of getting U.S. government to authorize the building of the memorial on what is now National Park land. The memorial is located on a small, triangular plot at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and North Capitol Street – one block away from Union Station and a short walk from the Capitol, where the U.S. Congress in 2006 authorized the building of the memorial by the government of Ukraine.

US

Obama drops by Biden’s meeting with Ukraine’s prime minister

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President expresses “unwavering support” for Ukraine’s sovereignty

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama expressed the U.S. government’s “unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” on July 13, during an unexpected meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. As noted in a White House statement, the president “dropped by” a meeting at the White House between Vice-President Joseph Biden and the Ukrainian prime minister, both of whom earlier that day participated in the U.S.-Ukraine Business Forum, a large gathering of government officials and business leaders focused on improving Ukraine’s economic situation and its relations with the United States and the West. According to a statement released after the meeting, the president and vice-president also “underscored the U.S. commitment to maintaining sanctions on Russia until it fully implements its obligations under the Minsk agreements,” which are intended to resolve Ukraine’s conflict with the Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine’s eastern regions. President Obama and Vice-President Biden commended the Ukrainian government for the steps it has taken to implement its obligations under the agreements, including the submission to Ukraine’s Parliament of “draft constitutional amendments on decentralization.”

The American leaders also welcomed the Ukrainian government’s “ambitious economic reform agenda” and its “strong stand against populist measures that could undermine Ukraine’s financial stability” – which were also among the primary issues discussed at the U.S.-Ukraine Business Forum. “The leaders agreed on the importance of Ukraine passing additional reform measures, including in the energy sector, to fulfill its commitments to the IMF [International Monetary Fund] and other international financial institutions,” the White House said.

Culture/Arts

Hurko’s new composition of the liturgy sung at Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine

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WASHINGTON – The large gathering of parishioners and others who came to the Sunday, May 31, liturgy at Washington’s Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family were overwhelmed by what they witnessed that morning. Their church choir sang a new composition of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom No. 3 in English, under the direction of its composer Roman Hurko. And they cheered and expressed their appreciation to the composer-conductor during the church hall reception that followed.

Culture/Arts

Soloviy-Corazzo concert at Embassy of Ukraine earns standing ovations

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WASHINGTON – The music lovers who came to the June 5 evening concert at the Ukrainian Embassy knew that this would be a remarkable performance by Ukrainian soprano Sofia Soloviy and composer-pianist Elia Andrea Corazza. Some of them had already attended the duo’s first Washington Group Cultural Fund Music Series concert last November, and they spread the word about how good it was to their friends who hadn’t been able to attend because it was on Thanksgiving weekend. But they all came together to fill Embassy’s main hall at the encore TWGCF Music Series Soloviy-Corazza concert. And, judging by the loud and lasting standing ovations, their expectations were fulfilled. Beginning with selected arias from operas by Giuseppe Verdi, Gioachino Rossini and Giacomo Puccini, and Halka’s aria from Polish composer Stanislaw Moniuszko’s opera “Halka,” Ms. Soloviy concluded the first half of the program with her accompanist’s own composition “April Rain.”

Ms. Soloviy’s opera singing career began in Lviv and then took her through Europe – Italy, France, Spain, Germany Austria, Poland, the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as to other venues in Ukraine and now to the United States.

News

Yatsenyuk makes Ukraine’s case in a series of appearances in DC

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WASHINGTON – As President Barack Obama and the other G-7 leaders on June 8 were concluding their summit meeting discussions with a focus on how best to resolve the crisis of Russia’s intrusion into Ukraine, the prime minister of Ukraine, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, arrived in Washington for three days of talks about that crisis and other important issues facing Ukraine and the West, with U.S. government officials, congressional leaders, the International Monetary Fund and influential American organizations. The prime minister’s tight schedule included a surprise White House meeting with Vice-President Joe Biden, who had just returned from his son’s funeral in Delaware. In all, as Mr. Yatsenyuk told journalists following his IMF meeting just before departing back to Ukraine June 10, he and Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko had some 30 meetings over the span of two days. “And the level of support expressed by the U.S. vice-president, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, the secretaries of the Treasury and Commerce – in other words, the American establishment – was unprecedented,” he said. On Capitol Hill, Mr. Yatsenyuk met with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and other members of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, co-chaired by Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who then called for providing Ukraine with additional U.S. aid.

US

UCCA celebrates 75th anniversary

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WASHINGTON – The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) celebrated the 75th anniversary of its founding with a reception on May 20 at the Senate Visitor’s Center at the U.S. Capitol, where U.S. and Ukrainian government representatives joined with a large group of representatives of Ukrainian American organizations and the Ukrainian Catholic and Orthodox Churches to mark the occasion. As they praised and thanked the UCCA for the positive work it has done since its founding in 1940 for the benefit of its community, Ukraine and the United States, much of the focus of remarks by speakers, including five members of the U.S. Congress, was also on what the United States and other Western countries are and should be doing to help Ukraine during its current crisis with Russia. The first congressman to address the gathering, Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio), who chairs the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces, put it this way: “I appreciate you being here. I appreciate your strong voice for Ukraine, and I appreciate also the opportunity to stand with you in support of a country, that like all countries, deserves territorial integrity, freedom and the ability for self-determination.”

Similar expressions of support were made by the four other U.S. representatives participating in the event: Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-N.J.), Paul D. Tonko (D-N.Y.), Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) and Robin Kelly (D-Ill.). Rep. Kelly also mentioned and delighted many attending the reception by noting that she, too, has Ukrainian roots.

US

70th anniversary of V-E Day marked in DC

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Events spotlight Ukraine’s role in the war and in today’s Europe
WASHINGTON – The commemoration of the 70th anniversary of V-E Day, marking the end of World War II in Europe, drew tens of thousands of people to the National World War II Memorial at the National Mall here on Friday, May 8. The event began with the laying of floral wreaths at the Memorial’s Freedom Wall by ambassadorial representatives of European Theater Allied Nations to honor the soldiers who died during the war. Among those present to pay their respect to the fallen and receive the respect for their participation in that war were the increasingly smaller number of old veterans still among the living. Former Secretary of State Madeline K. Albright and other dignitaries addressed the gathering at the commemoration, which was concluded with the flyover of dozens of World War II military aircraft, ending with the “Missing Man” formation as the military band played “Taps.”

This commemoration and other events during that weekend were also special in the way they brought Ukraine’s role in that war and in today’s Europe into focus. Among the representatives of the nearly 30 European embassies laying wreaths at the memorial was Yaroslav Brisiuck, Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires in Washington, who later that afternoon hosted a commemorative reception at the Ukrainian Embassy that included representatives of other European embassies, the U.S. government, Ukrainian Americans and a few of the Ukrainian World War II veterans still alive today.

US

Ukraine’s longest serving envoy to the U.S. returns to Kyiv

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WASHINGTON – The longest-serving Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, Olexander Motsyk, concluded his almost five-year assignment here and returned to Kyiv with his wife, Natalia Terletska, on April 25. Two days earlier, he was honored with a farewell reception at the Ukrainian Embassy, at which representatives of the U.S. government, Congress, think tanks and the Ukrainian diaspora expressed their respect and gratitude for his service here, and the ambassador expressed his deep appreciation for their support of Ukraine and its people. Addressing the large gathering, the ambassador noted that his mission here coincided with a very difficult time in Ukraine’s history, especially during the past year, when Ukraine has been fighting against foreign aggression. “Naturally that made my mission truly challenging,” he said, but added, “I believe the day of our victory will come, because truth is on our side, and because our friends, led by America, stand next to us.”

The ambassador expressed his gratitude to President Barack Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry “for their leadership and strong support of my country.” He added that “the bipartisan support of the U.S. Congress was no less important,” and expressed his “deep appreciation” to House Speaker John Boehner, Sens. John McCain, Ben Cardin, Bob Corker, Robert Menendez and Chris Murphy, Reps.

News

Top ministers in charge of Ukraine’s economy visit Washington

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WASHINGTON – Three top Ukrainian government officials in charge of improving their country’s economy and its international economic relations spent four days in Washington in mid-April, meeting with leaders of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, as well as officials at the U.S. Department of Commerce, to discuss Ukraine’s current financial-economic situation, its progress in reforming the economy and plans for additional reforms in the future. And, as Ukrainian Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius noted at the conclusion of the visit, they were returning to Kyiv satisfied with the results. “Ukraine is high on everybody’s agenda these days,” he told members of the press at the Embassy of Ukraine on April 20. “There is a clear support for our government and our Parliament in Washington among the American politicians, businesspeople and bankers, and also among the international community,” he said, noting that “it is very obvious that everyone wishes us success and understands our difficult situations on the security and economic fronts.”

Minister Abromavicius was accompanied to the Washington meetings by Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko and the governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, Valeriya Hontaryeva. Among the issues they discussed here were the sanctions put in place when Ukraine was not yet a market economy and was getting gas at a very cheap price from Russia.

US

Farewell dinner recognizes efforts of Ambassador Motsyk

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WASHINGTON – Ambassador Olexander Motsyk, was honored here on April 16 with a “dinner of appreciation” organized by the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council at the conclusion of his five years of service as Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States. The event, held in the Ritz-Carlton Guarisco Art Gallery, brought together more than 70 representatives of the U.S. government, prominent corporations, Washington think tanks and Ukrainian-American organizations, many of whom used the occasion to publicly express their gratitude for his service in helping improve U.S.-Ukraine relations. Two former U.S. ambassadors to Ukraine – Roman Popadiuk and Steven Pifer – joined Ambassador Motsyk, his wife, Natalia Terletska, and USUBC President Morgan Williams at the head table of the event, and shared their views about his work and accomplishments while serving in Washington. Mr. Popadiuk, the first U.S. ambassador to serve in Ukraine, pointed out that the last 18 months – which saw increased Russian aggression in Ukraine and the developing U.S. policy in response to it – brought into focus Ambassador Motsyk’s service here, his dedication, professionalism and skill in marshaling U.S. policy responses with the administration, on Capitol Hill and in reaching out to the American people. Mr. Pifer, who was the third U.S. ambassador to serve in Ukraine, also noted the difficulties facing Ambassador Motsyk in his service here.