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Biden in Morocco lauds U.S. diversity but urges youths to build their own countries U.S. ‘committed’ to aiding Ukraine but seeks progress on government formation, reforms
(about 5 hours later)
MARRAKESH, Morocco— Vice President Biden told Muslim youths gathered here Thursday that those who bring their intellect and skills to the United States are welcome, but that U.S. interests are better served if they stay and contribute to their own countries. KIEV, Ukraine — The Obama administration is prepared to “bring more resources to bear” to help Ukraine, but Washington and its allies are looking for more momentum from Kiev in forming a new government and implementing promised reforms, a senior U.S. official said as Vice President Biden arrived here late Thursday.
Just hours before President Obama was to deliver a major speech on immigration, Biden noted that “in 2017, in the United States for the first time, Caucasians of European descent will be in the absolute minority. The secret people don’t know is that our diversity is the reason for our incredible strength.” Biden’s “number one message is ‘We’ve got your back,’ ” said the official, traveling with the vice president aboard Air Force Two. The “other” message to Ukraine, the official said, is that “we’re committed to helping you, but we can’t do it alone, so you have to help us help you.”
But the world and the United States will be more peaceful and prosperous, Biden said, when “the brightest, the most innovative, the greatest risk takers” believe they can reach their potential at home. The trip comes amid Western accusations that Russia has failed to abide by the terms of a September cease-fire agreement between pro-Moscow separatists and Kiev and has increased the flow of weapons and troops to help the rebels in eastern Ukraine.
He called on governments and societies to create “the climate in which ideas flourish,” including access to education, equality for women and an end to official corruption. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has asked the West for lethal military aid and stepped-up economic assistance as fighting in the east has reignited and winter approaches.
Biden, who celebrated his 72nd birthday Thursday, was serenaded with a chorus of “Happy Birthday” by the several thousand mostly youthful Muslims attending the fifth annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit. The three-day summit is part of an initiative announced by Obama in Cairo in 2009 to deepen business, education and technology ties with Muslim-majority countries. U.S. lawmakers also have pressed for more aid to Kiev. Antony Blinken, President Obama’s deputy national security adviser, told Congress on Wednesday that “it’s time to provide defensive lethal military assistance to Ukraine and escalate pressure on [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.” Blinken was testifying at a Senate hearing on his nomination to be the deputy secretary of state.
Although the summits were begun at a time when Obama hoped to create what he called a “new beginning” between the United States and Muslims around the world, the relationship has continued to be dominated by anti-terrorism concerns. Russia responded angrily to his comments, saying Thursday that they sent a “very serious signal.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said that any arms shipments would constitute “a major change in policy of the administration in regard to the conflict” in Ukraine, the Reuters news agency reported.
With U.S. military operations broadening in Iraq and Syria, Biden’s speech was seen as “an opportunity to remind the region and the world of some of the values that America stands for, above all the political and economic openness that fuel our innovation,” said a senior administration official traveling with the vice president. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in advance of Biden’s remarks. So far, the United States has provided only nonlethal military assistance, including vehicles and night-vision goggles, to Ukraine.
The two-day summit is jointly sponsored by the United States and Morocco, which constructed a tent city on the outskirts of Marrakesh to house the event. Biden was accompanied by Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and Maria Contreras-Sweet, head of the Small Business Administration. But recent signs of Russian escalation have added urgency to a debate within the Obama administration about whether lethal “defensive” equipment would only increase the violence and prove to be little match for continually increasing supplies to the separatists from Moscow.
In some cases, the State Department reached out to young Muslim entrepreneurs and financed their attendance here. Ridwan Hafez, 28, who runs a software start-up in Dhaka, Bangladesh, said he was contacted there by the U.S. consulate. U.S. allies in Europe are even less eager to provide lethal assistance and, along with the International Monetary Fund, are pressing hard for more progress on a new government in Kiev and promised reforms before committing to a significant increase in economic aid.
“I’m trying to take my business overseas,” Hafez said. “This is a networking opportunity.” Despite what he called “negative energy” toward the United States in much of the Muslim world, he said, “this is one of the best things of Obama.” Negotiations on government formation are going on between parties led by Poroshenko and the current prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, as well as parties that took a smaller share of seats in the Oct. 26 parliamentary election. The new parliament is to be seated Dec. 1.
Morocco was the first stop on a trip that will also take Biden to Ukraine and Turkey this week. Biden plans to meet separately with both Poroshenko and Yatsenyuk before departing for Turkey on Friday evening. He will also participate in a roundtable discussion on Ukraine’s efforts to stem corruption.
In an interview published in the Ukrainian newspaper Day on the eve of his visit, Biden said, “As Ukraine demonstrates its own force of will, in standing up to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity, in pushing through difficult reforms, in developing its democracy and undertaking to combat corruption and restoring economic health, we will continue to stand with the people of Ukraine.”
“We have been clear from the beginning that there is no military solution to this crisis,” he said, “despite the fact that this is obviously what Russia is trying to impose through its proxies in eastern Ukraine.”
The senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity ahead of Biden’s talks, said, “First there has to be a government, and the government has to have a platform.”
“We’re not expecting everything done and all realized before” stepping up assistance, the official said. “But what the financial markets are looking for, what we’re looking for and the Europeans are looking for is a sense of momentum in the right direction, not us coming and pointing and telling them things they don’t know.”