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Joe Biden Says U.S. Is Still Backing Ukraine Joe Biden Says U.S. Is Still Backing Ukraine
(about 3 hours later)
KIEV, Ukraine — The United States will not sacrifice Ukraine in pursuit of Russian cooperation in Syria, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. assured Ukrainian leaders on Monday, as the Obama administration tries to manage complicated diplomacy with Moscow. KIEV, Ukraine — The United States will not sacrifice Ukraine in pursuit of Russian cooperation in Syria, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. assured Ukrainian leaders on Monday, even as the Obama administration tries to manage complicated diplomacy with Moscow.
Opening a two-day visit to Kiev, Mr. Biden told President Petro O. Poroshenko that the United States still stands by Ukraine in its conflict with pro-Russian separatists. To make the point, Mr. Biden promised another $190 million in American aid. Opening a two-day visit, Mr. Biden told the Ukrainians that the United States still supports them in their conflict with pro-Russian separatists, and accused President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia of violating a cease-fire agreement reached in Minsk, Belarus. To reinforce American backing, Mr. Biden promised another $190 million in aid.
“The United States stands firmly with the people of Ukraine in the face of continued — and I emphasize continued — aggression from Russia and Russian-backed separatists,” Mr. Biden told reporters after the meeting. “The United States stands firmly with the people of Ukraine in the face of continued — and I emphasize continued — aggression from Russia and Russian-backed separatists,” he said. “Minsk cannot succeed if Russia does not fulfill its commitment and President Putin fails to live up to the promises he has repeatedly made to my president, to you and to the international community.”
He called on President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to live up to a cease-fire agreement reached in February in Minsk, Belarus. “Minsk cannot succeed if Russia does not fulfill its commitment and President Putin fails to live up to the promises he has repeatedly made to my president, to you and to the international community,” Mr. Biden said. Ukrainian officials have been nervous about what Russia’s renewed interest in the Middle East would mean for their country. American officials interpret Russia’s intervention in Syria as an attempt by Mr. Putin to distract world attention from the Ukrainian conflict, break out of the isolation the West has tried to impose on Moscow and weaken international resolve to maintain sanctions.
Ukrainian officials have been nervous about what Russia’s renewed interest in the Middle East would mean for their country. American officials interpret Russia’s intervention in Syria as an attempt by Mr. Putin to distract world attention from the Ukrainian conflict, to break out of the isolation the West has tried to impose on Moscow, and perhaps to weaken international resolve to maintain sanctions. President Obama has insisted that the situations in Ukraine and Syria are separate, and he sent Mr. Biden to drive that point home. Even if Washington and Moscow cooperate to settle the Syrian civil war and battle the Islamic State, Mr. Obama has said, it would not stop the West from maintaining pressure on Russia over Ukraine. The European Union likewise appears poised to renew sanctions on Russia next week.
President Obama has insisted that the situations in Ukraine and Syria are separate, and he sent Mr. Biden to Ukraine to drive that point home. Even if Washington and Moscow can work together to settle the Syrian civil war and battle the Islamic State, Mr. Obama has said, it would not stop the West from maintaining pressure on Russia to resolve the Ukrainian dispute. Michael A. McFaul, Mr. Obama’s former ambassador to Russia, said the Ukrainians should be reassured. “Vice President Biden’s trip to Kyiv sends a clear message that the United States is not willing to trade Ukraine for Russian cooperation on Syria,” he said in an email, using the spelling of the capital that Ukrainian leaders prefer. “That kind of linkage never works,” Mr. McFaul said.
“That’s going to be a major theme of the trip — that nothing that’s going on in the Middle East has changed one iota of our commitment to the Ukrainian people and to their security,” a senior administration official said before Mr. Biden left Washington. The official briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity under White House rules. Mr. Biden also used his trip to press President Petro O. Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk to put aside their differences and do more to battle corruption, arguing that the country has an opportunity to get its own house in order while Russia is focused on the Middle East.
Michael A. McFaul, Mr. Obama’s former ambassador to Russia, said the Ukrainians should be reassured. “Vice President Biden’s trip to Kyiv sends a clear message that the United States is not willing to trade Ukraine for Russian cooperation on Syria,” he said, using the spelling of the capital that Ukrainian leaders prefer. “That kind of linkage never works,” Mr. McFaul said. Mr. Poroshenko was elected in 2014 after a pro-Moscow government was driven from office by mass protests that were met with violence. But he has yet to break the system of control wielded by powerful magnates over Ukrainian politics and economics.
Mr. Biden also pressed the Ukrainians to put aside their differences and do more to battle corruption, bolster their economy and restructure the country’s finances. While he has taken some steps, including the creation of a new police force and a move to install independent management of the state-owned energy company, critics said he has so far failed to make enough structural change. The president is fighting with Parliament over the prosecutor general, whom some lawmakers see as unwilling to tackle corruption.
Mr. Poroshenko was elected in 2014 after a pro-Moscow government was driven from office by mass protests that were met with violence. By many accounts, he has yet to diminish the control wielded by a small coterie of business moguls over much of the country’s economic and political apparatus. The president is fighting with Parliament over the prosecutor general, who critics say has done too little to tackle corruption. Moreover, friction has grown between Mr. Poroshenko and Mr. Yatsenyuk, who hail from different parties and are struggling in a constitutional system that makes the division of power between their offices sometimes unclear. While American officials view both men as reformers, each has his own clan to protect and neither has been willing to abandon that as long as the other does not. Western officials believe the two may need to overhaul the cabinet to make a fresh start.
“It’s absolutely critical for Ukraine, in order to be stable and prosperous and part of a secure Europe, to definitely, thoroughly, completely root out the cancer of corruption,” Mr. Biden said. “The people need to see that the ways of the past are permanently gone, they no longer exist. That means hard decisions.” “Unfortunately the current cabinet is one of the most corrupt in the history of Ukraine,” former Prime Minister Yulia V. Tymoshenko, an advocate of reform who has turned increasingly populist lately, said in an interview. “Preservation of the bad status quo is what’s losing Ukraine as a viable state.”
Mr. Biden made a point about fighting corruption with the way he began his visit to Kiev: by meeting with what his office called a “reformers’ round table” of government officials, lawmakers and advocacy group leaders. After his meeting with Mr. Poroshenko, Mr. Biden met with Prime Minister Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, who has been at odds with the president over a host of issues. Without taking sides, Mr. Biden met separately with Mr. Poroshenko and Mr. Yatsenyuk to press them to work together. American officials said the vice president warned them that the Ukrainian public was growing frustrated at the pace of reform and warned them “don’t squander this opportunity,” as one official put it.
“Vice President Biden’s most important challenge in Ukraine is to keep the president and prime minister on a common, unequivocal path of reform that shows Ukraine is helping itself and merits the world’s support,” said Carlos Pascual, a former American ambassador to Ukraine. “With Russia recapturing a leadership role in the Middle East, Ukraine cannot give the world an excuse to forget Ukraine.” “Future generations of Ukrainians will look back at this moment,” Mr. Biden later told reporters, with Mr. Yatsenyuk at his side. “They will ask about their leaders, ‘Did they deliver for us? Did they fundamentally change the nature of my country or did they not?’ History will be a very, very harsh judge.”
Mr. Biden will make some of the same points when he addresses the Rada, or Ukrainian Parliament, on Tuesday, a rare platform for a foreign leader. If Ukraine is to prevail in its struggle with Russia, he plans to say, it must get its own house in order. Mr. Yatsenyuk assured Mr. Biden that he got the message and cited various reforms he wanted to push through, including privatizing state enterprises and fighting corruption. “We understand our responsibilities, our obligations,” he said.
Before his meeting with Mr. Poroshenko on Monday, Mr. Biden visited a monument to people who were killed during the pro-Western demonstrations in Maidan Square that led to the ouster of President Viktor F. Yanukovych. Mr. Biden tried to visit the monument last year, but had to cancel at the last minute when an unruly group of protesters unnerved his security detail. Mr. Biden underlined his point by meeting with what his office called a “reformers’ round table” of government officials, lawmakers and advocacy group leaders, and he will make some of the same points again on Tuesday when he addresses Parliament.
“Vice President Biden’s most important challenge in Ukraine is to keep the president and prime minister on a common, unequivocal path of reform that shows Ukraine is helping itself and merits the world’s support,” said Carlos Pascual, another former American ambassador to Ukraine. “With Russia recapturing a leadership role in the Middle East, Ukraine cannot give the world an excuse to forget Ukraine.”
Oksana Syroyid, the deputy speaker of Parliament, said Mr. Poroshenko should listen to the vice president’s point. “We do hope that the message will be heard and that the prosecutor general will step down from his position and allow us to further move the reform of the prosecutor general,” she said.
During his travels around Kiev on Monday, Mr. Biden visited a monument to people who were killed during the pro-Western demonstrations in Maidan Square that led to the ouster of President Viktor F. Yanukovych. Mr. Biden tried to visit the monument last year, but had to cancel at the last minute when an unruly group of protesters unnerved his security detail.
Somber-faced and coatless on a brisk day, Mr. Biden viewed a display of about 100 photographs of slain protesters, along with candles, bouquets of flowers and banners with tributes to the victims.Somber-faced and coatless on a brisk day, Mr. Biden viewed a display of about 100 photographs of slain protesters, along with candles, bouquets of flowers and banners with tributes to the victims.
“Imagine what it was like,” Geoffrey Pyatt, the American ambassador, could be heard telling Mr. Biden. He pointed to surrounding buildings. “Snipers up on the buildings there.” “Imagine what it was like,” Geoffrey R. Pyatt, the American ambassador, could be heard telling Mr. Biden. He pointed to surrounding buildings. “Snipers up on the buildings there.”
Mr. Biden left a commemorative vice-presidential coin at the base of an elaborately carved wooden cross at the monument.Mr. Biden left a commemorative vice-presidential coin at the base of an elaborately carved wooden cross at the monument.
The conflict in eastern Ukraine has fallen into a kind of stasis, with Russian-backed separatist rebels still in control of sizable areas but significantly less violence than before the Minsk agreement.
By several accounts, the Kremlin has reined in the separatists, but has not done anything to return the restive region to government control. Nor has it shown any sign of relaxing its grip on the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed early last year. The peninsula has had no electricity for two weeks after explosions in southern Ukraine knocked out a transmission line.
Despite efforts by President François Hollande of France to enlist Russia in the international coalition fighting the Islamic State in Syria, the European Union appears likely to renew sanctions against Russia next week over Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.
According to Stratfor, a private analysis group, “As things stand now, the two sides are moving further apart, and the Russia-West standoff is likely to endure well into 2016.”