Biden in Ukraine

[Jaga]

It is good that pres. Obama sent vice-president Biden to Ukraine. At leats it means that the US did not forget about its EE friends:

Biden Arrives in Ukraine



media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2009/07/20/PH2009072001693.jpg

KIEV (Reuters) - Vice President Biden arrived in Ukraine on Monday morning to reassure its leaders Washington has not forgotten the ex-Soviet republic following President Barack Obama's push to improve ties with neighboring Russia.

But, with Ukraine paralyzed by domestic political feuds and suffering a deep economic recession, Biden will find a country less interested in the United States and NATO and more preoccupied with its own internal problems.

The streets of Kiev were shut down for security reasons for Biden's visit. But ordinary Ukrainians were largely indifferent to the vice-president's arrival and newspapers had little coverage ahead of his arrival. Biden's visit comes two weeks after Obama met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow and told him he wanted to "reset" relations that had hit a post-Cold War low under former President George W. Bush.

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[kaima]

Uncle Sam to watch presidential race in Ukraine without placing any bets, political experts believe

Washington won’t stand aloof from the presidential race in Ukraine – such was the tacit message given by VP Biden to the main presidential candidates in Ukraine. Of course, the United States won’t put their money on any candidate, indicating that they will be ready to build up a dialogue with any winner, Vladimir Kornilov, director of the openly pro-Russian Institute of CIS Countries (Kyiv branch) told ZIK July 22.

He says the visit of America’s No. 2 politician is very important for Ukraine, even if the visit “is reduced to eating varenyky with caviar and drinking Coca-Cola in memory of the Holodomor.”

“In any case, the visit is a symbolic one, and judging by what Biden said, the visit was aimed to be a symbolic one. Biden admitted frankly that his visit was scheduled to coincide with the decision of Pres Obama to visit Moscow. Therefore, Biden’s visit had to offset Obama’s trip to Moscow. It had to show that Ukraine and Georgia, who had been knocking insistently on the NATO door and who claim to be the major allies of the US in the FSU, would not feel left out,” Kornilov said.

The visit by VP Biden to Ukraine has also indicated that the US will try to pull their weight on Ukraine as the US always try to pull their weight in the world, says Kornilov, adding that Biden has again repeated the State Department’s beloved clichй that “Washington does not recognize any spheres of influences” since, as Kornilov put it, the US believe the entire world to be its sphere of influence.

According to Kornilov, neither Russia nor the United States can see any acceptable presidential candidate in Ukraine, and openly admit it. They will deal with whoever Ukrainians elect. Here, Washington acts on Pres Leonid Kravchuk’s favorable principle “We have what we have,” Kornilov said.

Another political expert, director of the Kyiv based Center for Political Research Mykhailo Pohrebinsky believes VP Biden succeeded in restoring diplomatic balance. The US administration has indicated that it wants to assure pro-Americn politicians in Ukraine that they won’t be left out by the US to sort out their problems. However, Biden hasn’t made any particular hints that the US will speed up Ukraine’s entry in NATO, the expert told ZIK July 22.

Pohrebinsky believes the US wants to find out who Ukraine’s next president will be. This explains why Biden has met with the major contenders.

The fact that Yatseniuk, the most pro-American candidate of all, rejected that he had discussed the presidential election with Biden, is proof that they discussed something about which Yatseniuk would not like to comment, Pohrebinsky opines.

“I am sure Yatseniuk was trying to convince Biden that he is Ukraine’s next president. After all, why should Biden be different from Ukrainian tycoons and highly placed officials whom Yatseniuk never stops to convince that he is the next president?” Pohrebinsky asked.

The expert says that Biden did not buy what Yatseniuk was trying to sell him. “They in State Department know the score well. They do not trust politicians. They have an extensive analytical and information support system and they know what is going on in Ukraine. I think, Biden accepted Yatseniuk’s future success story with irony, although we cannot deny he has no chances at all,” Pohrebinsly said.

It is too early to know who the United States will put their money on, the expert says. He believes that Yatseniuk can be America’s blue-eyed boy, but when risks are high, Americans will treat all candidates cautiously, showing no open preferences for any one of them.

zik.com.ua/en/news/2009/07/22/189600