Dear Editor:
Re: Bohdan Vitvitsky’s letter (January 31) regarding UCCA’s statement (January 24).
First, kudos to the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America for pointing out President Barack Obama’s egregious misstatements about Ukraine in his State of the Union address. President Obama did get it wrong when it came to Ukraine. By saying that Ukraine is a client state of Russia, he demonstrated his shocking ignorance of foreign policy and geopolitics. The UCCA’s statement, therefore, was necessary to correct the record.
What made it doubly shocking is that these words were spoken by the president of the United States during a major address to the nation. Russia has not been pumping money to prop up Ukraine; it has been doing everything to destabilize it. If this was due to sloppy speechwriting, then the president owes Ukraine an apology.
Moreover, instead of slighting Ukraine, the president should have underscored that Ukraine’s sovereignty continues to be violated, followed by an announcement of measures to support Ukraine politically, economically and militarily. The speech should have included a decision to provide Ukraine with defensive weaponry – an action Congress authorized him to carry out in December 2014. He also should have ratcheted up pressure on Russia to release Ukrainian hostages languishing in Moscow prisons.
Next I should like to turn to Bohdan Vitvitsky’s letter to the editor, in which he claims he was “astounded by UCCA’s statement.” Dr. Vitvitsky still believes that President Obama is a friend of Ukraine. Unfortunately, the president’s words have not been backed up by any meaningful actions. If anything, Mr. Obama has shown a bizarre disinterest in foreign policy in general and Ukraine and its people in particular. Yes, Vice-president Joe Biden did go to Ukraine, but why has the president not found the time even once to stop in Kyiv to show his solidarity with Ukrainians?
Moreover, Dr. Vitvitsky writes that “this administration has been Ukraine’s strongest defender on the international stage… , led the movement on sanctions… , given Ukraine three-quarters of billion dollars since the Maidan? Doesn’t Dr. Vitvitsky realize that these things happened despite President Obama? They happened because Congress passed legislation that was largely the result of the UCCA’s advocacy efforts and events like the Ukrainian Days in Washington.
Finally, I find it puzzling that Dr. Vitvitsky or others in the Ukrainian community still think that Mr. Obama is a friend of Ukraine. I am aware of many former supporters “Ukrainians for Obama” have abandoned the president because his record has shown that he is anything but a friend. And if Dr. Vitvitsky thinks it will change during the next 10 months of Mr. Obama’s lame-duck presidency, as he seems to imply, he is deluding himself. That said, it is Dr. Vitvitsky’s comment that is unhinged beyond the pale, not the UCCA’s statement as he wrote.
Washington