Ukraine–United States relations

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Ukraine–United States relations
Map indicating locations of Ukraine and USA

Ukraine
United States
Diplomatic mission
Embassy of Ukraine, Washington, D.C.Embassy of the United States, Kyiv

The United States officially recognized the independence of Ukraine on December 25, 1991. The United States upgraded its consulate in the capital, Kyiv, to embassy status on January 21, 1992.[1] In 2002, relations between the United States and Ukraine deteriorated after one of the recordings made during the Cassette Scandal revealed an alleged transfer of a sophisticated Ukrainian defence system to Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

The current Chargé d'Affaires is a.i. Kristina Kvien.[2] The last Ambassador of the United States to Ukraine was Marie L. Yovanovitch, the seventh U.S. ambassador since Ukrainian independence.[3]

As of 2009, the United States supports Ukraine's bid to join NATO.[4]

According to documents uncovered during the United States diplomatic cables leak, American diplomats defend Ukrainian sovereignty in meetings with other diplomats.[5][6][7]

Ukrainians have generally viewed the U.S. positively, with 80% expressing a favorable view in 2002, and 60% in 2011.[8] According to the 2012 U.S. Global Leadership Report, 33% of Ukrainians approve of U.S. leadership, with 26% disapproving and 41% uncertain.[9]

History of relations[edit]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with U.S. President Joe Biden, September 2021.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with former U.S. President Donald Trump in New York City, September 2019.
Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on January 20, 2016

The United States enjoys cordially friendly and strategic relations with Ukraine and attaches great importance to the success of Ukraine's transition to a democracy with a flourishing market economy.[citation needed] Following a period of economic decline characterized by high inflation and a continued reliance on state controls, the Ukrainian government began taking steps in the fall of 1999 to reinvigorate economic reform that had been stalled for years due to a lack of a reform majority in the Ukrainian parliament. The Ukrainian government's stated determination to implement comprehensive economic reform is a welcome development in the eyes of the US government, and the U.S. is committed to supporting Ukraine in continuing on this path. Bilateral relations suffered a setback in September 2002 when the federal government of the U.S. announced it had authenticated a recording of President Leonid Kuchma's July 2000 decision to transfer a Kolchuga early warning system to Iraq. The Government of Ukraine denied that the transfer had occurred. Ukraine's democratic Orange Revolution has led to closer cooperation and more open dialogue between Ukraine and the United States. U.S. policy remains centered on realizing and strengthening a democratic, prosperous, a primary recipient of FSA assistance. Total U.S. assistance since independence has been more than $3 billion. U.S. assistance to Ukraine is targeted to promote political and economic reform and to address urgent humanitarian needs. The U.S. has consistently encouraged Ukraine's transition to a democratic society with a prosperous market-based economy.

In November 2006, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) selected Ukraine to be eligible to apply for compact assistance. Ukraine already participates in the MCC Threshold Program, and in December 2006 signed a $45 million Threshold Program agreement. This program, which began implementation in early 2007, aims to reduce corruption in the public sector through civil society monitoring and advocacy, judicial reform, increased government monitoring and enforcement of ethical and administrative standards, streamlining and enforcing regulations, and combating corruption in higher education. Ukraine is beginning the process of developing a Compact proposal, and successful implementation of the Threshold Program will be necessary before the MCC will enter into a Compact with Ukraine.

The U.S. maintains an embassy in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, and Ukraine maintains an embassy in the American capital Washington, D.C.

In addition to diplomatic support in its conflict with Russia, the U.S. provided Ukraine with US$1.5 billion in military aid from 2014 to 2019.[10] In 2021, The Sunday Times reported that the amount of military aid given was US$2.5 billion.[11]

In January 2022, the US put 5,000–8,500 troops on high alert.[12]

The United States expressed willingness to help defend Ukraine before and during the 2022 Russian invasion.[13][14] The United States provided nearly $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine in 2021 and 2022, up to the first week of the invasion.[15]

Controversies[edit]

During the Ukrainian independence movement, on August 1, 1991, then-U.S.-President George H.W. Bush made a speech critical of the movement which James Carafano subsequently described as "what may have been the worst speech ever by an American chief executive".[16]

On 18 February 2009 the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea sent a letter to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the President of Ukraine in which it stated that it deemed it inexpedient to open a representative office of the United States in Crimea and it urged the Ukrainian leadership to give up this idea. The letter will also be sent[when?] to the Chairman of the UN General Assembly. The letter was passed in a 77 to 9 roll-call vote with one abstention.[17]

In 2012 the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations passed Resolution 466, calling for the unconditional release of political prisoner Yulia Tymoshenko and implemented a visa ban against those responsible.[18] The resolution condemned the administration of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych (in office: 2010–2014) and asked NATO to suspend all cooperative agreements with Ukraine.[19] In response, First Deputy General Prosecutor of Ukraine Renat Kuzmin wrote a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama, complaining that his visa was revoked.[20]

The Euromaidan protests resulted in the election of the pro-EU president Petro Poroshenko and then the Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014. Poroshenko requested military aid from the United States. President Barack Obama was reluctant to arm a relatively corrupt military that was recently used against anti-democracy protestors, and saw the mistaken shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 by Russian-armed separatists as an example of the dangers of supplying arms to Ukraine.[15] Though the U.S. had sanctioned Russia and refused to recognize the annexation, after a year Obama declined to provide the requested lethal aid (such as FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missiles and F-16 fighter jets.[15] The Obama administration did supply $600 million of non-lethal military aid from 2014 to 2016, including vehicles, training, body armor, and night-vision goggles.[15]

In 2017, President Donald Trump approved $47 million of Javelin anti-tank missile and missile launchers; these were not allowed to be deployed but kept in storage as a strategic deterrent against Russian invasion.[15]

In 2018 the U.S. House of Representatives passed a provision blocking any training of Azov Battalion of the Ukrainian National Guard by American forces, citing its neo-Nazi background. In previous years, between 2014 and 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives passed amendments banning support of Azov, but due to pressure from the Pentagon, the amendments were quietly lifted.[21][22][23]

On April 25, 2018, 57 members of the House of Representatives, led by Ro Khanna,[24] released a condemnation of Holocaust distortion in Ukraine.[25] They criticized Ukraine's 2015 memory laws glorifying Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and its leaders, such as Roman Shukhevych.[26] The condemnation came in an open bipartisan letter to Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan.[27]

In summer 2019, Trump froze $400 million in military aid to Ukraine which had been approved by Congress,[15] an aid package which was the subject of a phone conversation that Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25. On August 12, 2019, an anonymous whistleblower submitted a complaint to U.S. Inspector General Michael Atkinson that stated that Trump had allegedly attempted to pressure Zelensky into launching an investigation on former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, during the phone call.[28] On September 24, 2019, the United States House of Representatives initiated an impeachment inquiry against Trump.[29] Trump held a meeting with Zelensky in New York City on September 25 where both presidents stated that Zelensky had not been pressured during the July phone call and that nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.[30] Trump was impeached by the House, but later acquitted in the Senate trial and continued as President until the end of his term.

Some Washington foreign policy experts were puzzled as to why (as of January 2022) President Biden had failed to nominate an ambassador to Ukraine.[31][32] The previous ambassador, Marie Yovanovitch, was the subject of a smear campaign by Trump, his Washington allies, and Ukraine prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko. She was recalled by President Trump in May 2019. Yovanovitch testified to Congress during the impeachment, and Trump never appointed a replacement.

Sister-Twinning cities[edit]

Agreements and memorandums[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Department of State website https://www.state.gov/countries-areas/. (U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets) available here

  1. ^ "Background Notes: Ukraine 6/97". 1997-2001.state.gov. Retrieved 2019-11-21.
  2. ^ US State Department Embassy website Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  3. ^ Embassy_of_the_United_States,_Kiev
  4. ^ Biden Says U.S. Still Backs Ukraine in NATO, New York Times (July 21, 2009)
  5. ^ Bandera, Stephen (1 December 2010). "Holodomor, WikiLeaks and Russia's Single Historical Space". Kyiv Post. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  6. ^ After Russian invasion of Georgia, Putin's words stir fears about Ukraine. Kyiv Post (November 30, 2010)
  7. ^ WikiLeaks: Vershbow defends Ukrainian sovereignty in meeting with Russians. Kyiv Post (November 29, 2010)
  8. ^ Opinion of the United States Pew Research Center
  9. ^ U.S. Global Leadership Project Report - 2012 Gallup
  10. ^ "How U.S. Military Aid Has Helped Ukraine Since 2014". NPR.org. December 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  11. ^ Shipman, Tim (12 December 2021). "Can jaw-jaw in the West really stop Putin rolling into Ukraine?". The Sunday Times. London. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  12. ^ Stewart, Phil (25 January 2022). "U.S. Puts 8,500 troops on alert to deploy amid Ukraine tensions". Reuters.
  13. ^ Alsaafin, Linah; Uras, Umut (12 February 2022). "Latest Ukraine updates: Biden warns Putin over Ukraine invasion". Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera. AL Jazeera. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  14. ^ Lewis, Simon (5 March 2022). "Blinken signals U.S. support for Ukraine with border meeting". Reuters. Reuters. Reuters. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  15. ^ a b c d e f Karen DeYoung (February 27, 2022). "The U.S. has been rushing to arm Ukraine, but for years it stalled on providing weapons".
  16. ^ James Carafano, "How to be a freedom fighter", The Washington Examiner(Washington, D.C.), (April 4, 2011) - "President George H.W. Bush traveled to the Ukraine and delivered what may have been the worst speech ever by an American chief executive."
  17. ^ Crimean parliament votes against opening U.S. diplomatic post Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine, Interfax-Ukraine (18 February 2009)
  18. ^ "Senate Press Release".
  19. ^ "US Senate to consider draft resolution calling for release of Tymoshenko - May. 25, 2012". KyivPost. May 25, 2012.
  20. ^ "Kuzmin sends letter to Obama saying he was deprived of US visa - Dec. 10, 2012". KyivPost. December 10, 2012.
  21. ^ Kheel, Rebecca (March 27, 2018). "Congress bans arms to Ukraine militia linked to neo-Nazis". TheHill.
  22. ^ "Congress Has Removed a Ban on Funding Neo-Nazis From Its Year-End Spending Bill". The Nation. January 14, 2016. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  23. ^ Sokol, Sam (January 18, 2016). "US lifts ban on funding 'neo-Nazi' Ukrainian militia". Jerusalem Post.
  24. ^ History, Defending (April 25, 2018). "57 Members of US House of Representatives Condemn Holocaust Distortion in Ukraine and Poland".
  25. ^ "Congress members urge US stand against Holocaust denial in Ukraine, Poland". The Times of Israel. April 25, 2018.
  26. ^ "RELEASE: Rep. Khanna Leads Bipartisan Members In Condemning Anti-Semitism in Europe". April 25, 2018.
  27. ^ "Congress members call out Ukraine government for glorifying Nazis - Jewish Telegraphic Agency". www.jta.org. April 25, 2018.
  28. ^ Przybyla, Heidi; Caldwell, Leigh Ann; Moe, Alex; Bennett, Geoff (26 September 2019). "Path toward impeachment takes shape with primary focus on Ukraine revelations". NBC News. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  29. ^ Fandos, Nicholas (24 September 2019). "Nancy Pelosi Announces Formal Impeachment Inquiry of Trump". New York Times. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  30. ^ Law, Tara (25 September 2019). "'Nobody Pushed Me.' Ukrainian President Denies Trump Pressured Him to Investigate Biden's Son". TIME. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  31. ^ Alexander Ward and Quint Forgey. (5 January 2022) "The ‘mystery’ of the missing Ukraine ambassador". Politico website Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  32. ^ Amy Mackinnon, Jack Detsch, and Robbie Gramer. (6 December 2021). "Biden Is Running Out of Time to Help Ukraine Fend Off Russia". FP website Retrieved 7 January 2022.

Further reading[edit]

  • Beebe, George. "Groupthink Resurgent" National Interest (Jan/Feb 2020), Issue 165, pp 5–10. Explores whether President Trump delayed military assistance to Ukraine in order to press for inappropriate political favors; also examines strategic competition in Ukraine between the West and Vladimir Putin's revanchist Russia.
  • Buskey, Megan. "New Leader, Old Troubles" American Scholar (Winter 2020) 89#1 pp 6–11. re presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump.
  • Fedunkiw, Marianne P. "Ukrainian Americans." in Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 4, Gale, 2014), pp. 459–474. online
  • Petrov, Valentyn V. "‘Grand Strategies’, Military And Political Doctrines Of The United States Of America: Trends Of Evolution After The End Of The Cold War. Lessons For Ukraine." Actual Problems Of International Relations 128 (2017): 40-50. online
  • Plokhy, Serhii, and M. E. Sarotte. "The Shoals of Ukraine: Where American Illusions and Great-Power Politics Collide." Foreign Affairs 99 (2020): 81+ excerpt.

External links[edit]

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