Ukrainian Foreign Minister Says Yushchenko Ready to Meet Challenges by Michael Coleman Ukrainian Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk wants Americans to understand something about the complicated relationship between his country and Russia, its largest and most powerful neighbor. Despite the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin opposed the election of Viktor Yushchenko, the new Ukrainian president, and apparently even worked for his defeat, there are no hard feelings, Tarasyuk said. ìSome people oversimplify these issues,î Tarasyuk said during a speech last month at the National Press Club. ìWe have a new beginning in the Ukraine-Russian relationship. This was proved by the first visit of President Yushchenko to Russia, which he made hours after his inauguration as the next president of Ukraine. ìIn doing so, he sent a message that he forgot all of the negatives that accumulated in the past,î Tarasyuk continued. ìPresident Yushchenko extended the hand of friendship to President Putin, and that hand was met.î Tarasyuk came to Washington last month to lay the diplomatic groundwork in advance of Yush chenkoís official state visit to the nationís capital early this month. During his talk at the National Press Club, Tarasyuk thanked the American people ìof Ukrainian originî for their help during the recent Orange Revolution. ìWe are grateful to all Americans of Ukrainian origin for their contribution to the democratic development of the Ukraine and especially for their commitments during the days of the Orange Revolution,î Tarasyuk said. ìWe felt very warm messages coming from Washington, not for a particular personality, but for fair, free and democratic elections in the Ukraine.î The Orange Revolution was a historic movement by masses of Ukrainian citizens to protest election fraud in the second round of their election in November 2004. An election-day rally of thousands of supporters grew exponentially in the following days to include hundreds of thousandsósome have estimated more than a millionópeople. Now that Yushchenko has been installed as president, Tarasyuk said the Ukrainian government has a lot to do, and very little time. He echoed a sentiment familiar to many leaders of emerging democracies: urgency. ìAs a result of Orange Revolution, tremendous expectations emerged from within Ukrainian society,î Tarasyuk explained. ìThese expectations have to be met by the authorities. This is the biggest challenge President Yushchenko has.î He said future elections, especially those at the local level, will hinge on the success of the early days of Yushchenkoís administration. ìWe have a limited time to prove the people were right in choosing the president and new authorities,î Tarasyuk said. ìWe have one year, when parliamentary and local elections will take place.î He added that the new president hopes to lay a positive framework for U.S.-Ukrainian relations during his visit in April. ìWe will push for outstanding issues in our bilateral relations to be solved,î Tarasyuk said. ìAmongst those is the abandoning of the Jackson-Vanik amendment,î which bans normal trade with nations that restrict emigration and have non-market economies. The foreign minister also summed up his view on the difference between Yushchenko and his opponent in the election. Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, Yushchenkoís predecessor, has been accused of political intolerance at best, and at worst, the murder of a journalist who crossed him. ìThe difference between Kuchma and Yushchenko is the difference between criminal, oligarchic values and Christian values,î Tarasyuk said. ìUkraine is now one of the champions of democracy in Europe and the world.î Looking forward, Tarasyuk said Ukraine is eager to join NATO and the European Union. Asked about the potential conflict with Russia over its application for EU membership, Tarasyuk said that should be a non-issue. ìThere should be no contradiction between Ukraineís desire to join the EU and integrate with the West and keep good relations with Russia,î he said. ìRussia is our traditional partner. It is our number-two trade partner after the European UnionÖ. No one is trying to offend Russia,î he explained. ìRussia respects the decision of the Ukrainian people.î He also pointed out that whatís good economically for Ukraine can be good for Russia. ìItís a geopolitical reality that Russia has an interest in the development of Ukraine.î Tarasyuk spent a moment addressing the pre-election dioxin poisoning of Yushchenko, who blamed unnamed opponents in the government of attempting to assassinate him, and a Washington Post report in mid-March that revealed U.S. doctors might have helped treat the new president before his election. Tarasyuk rejected the notion that the United States should somehow be reprimanded by the world community for involving itself in the election by having possibly offered medical assistance. ìI see no discrepancy,î Tarasyuk said, noting that many doctors from around the world offered to help. ìWe praise this very human desire to help.î He said the poisoning has only disfigured the presidentís once-youthful visage. ìYushchenko is tremendously active, working day and night,î Tarasyuk said. ìI have known him for more than a decade and he has always been physically active. The only difference now is his unrecognizable face.î The foreign minister also delineated two very clear and immediate foreign policy goals: ìEuropean and Euro-Atlantic integration and the friendly relationship with the neighbors.î Tarasyuk also expressed a desire for greatly enhanced trade status with the United States. ìWe are working hard to grant Ukraine the status of a market-economy country from the United States,î he said. ìThe Ukraine will prove to be a reliable, consistent partner for the United States, and hopefully our cooperation with the United States government will lead us to join the [World Trade Organization] by the end of the year. ìThis is reasonable,î he said. ìIt is not wishful thinking.î Michael Coleman is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.