The following is the full text of a letter sent by the UCCA-Illinois Division on April 12 to President Joe Biden.
Dear Mr. President:
On behalf of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America-Illinois Division, representing hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian-Americans in the state of Illinois, we write this letter to express our alarm about your possible appointment of Matthew Rojansky to the position of Russia director on the National Security Council.
The appointment of Mathew Rojansky as Russia director on the National Security Council would send the wrong signal to Russia, Ukraine and the world. This is a major negative development and a source of much anxiety for Ukrainians, Eastern Europeans, and Balts, and also for Americans who are legitimately concerned about Russian influence in the U.S.
Dr. Rojansky’s work has drawn valid criticism. See the attachment and second page for examples of some of these serious concerns. We support peaceful coexistence, but the question is at what price and to what extent do American interests need to be compromised. Mr. Rojansky’s statement in a National Interest op-ed, “Peaceful coexistence remains an imperative, no matter how unsavory Putin’s regime might be,” is reminiscent of appeasement that led to disaster in our past.
We recommend that before Dr. Matthew Rojansky is appointed to the NSC, there should be careful examination of the consequences to policies that may be influenced because of overt or covert financial support from Russia and that his appointment be reassessed. As such, we recommend that Dr. Rojansky not be appointed to the NSC position. Dr. Rojansky’s expertise is in advising without facing consequences of his decisions. His resume does not indicate any military expertise or background, or experience in government, in particular intelligence or security, with no line of expertise in foreign service.
At its core, there is the perception that for Dr. Rojansky Ukraine is expendable when standing in the way of closer U.S.-Russian relations. We request that you take our deep concerns and recommendations under serious consideration and reject this appointment.
Most respectfully,
Dan I. Diaczun, president
Marta Farion, vice president
Pavlo T. Bandriwsky, vice president
Maria Korkatsch Groszko, Ph.D., vice president