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Andriy Parubiy in Washington, DC Ad Hoc Committee for Ukraine c/o Center For US-Ukrainian Relations, 509 C St. NE Washington DC 20002 646-704-1463, [email protected] Andriy Parubiy in Washington, D.C. March 10, 2015, Washington, D.C.—Andriy Parubiy, First Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Ukraine, conducted an official visit to Washington, D.C. February 23-26, 2014. Mr. Parubiy is past Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine and Commander of Maidan Self-Defence Forces. Also in Washington at the time of Mr. Parubiy’s visit was MP Oleksiy Skrypnyk, Deputy Chairman, Committee on Science and Education and a delegation from Ukraine that included a number of experts from Ukraine, including Roman Mashkovets and Stanislav Bondarenko, both, former officers in the Defense Frorces of Ukraine and Senior Fellows at the Center for Defense Reform, Vasyl Filipchuk, Chairman of the International Centre for Policy Studies, Mykhailo Honchar,President of “Strategy XXI” Center of Global Studies, Anatoli Pinchuk, Ukraine Strategy Institute, and others. They participated in several conferences and roundtables hosted by Washington think tanks and universities where Mr. Parubiy was the featured speaker. Mr. Parubiy’s official meetings were held with members of the newly established Senate Ukraine Caucus (SUC) and with the Co-Chairs of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus (CUC) in the House of Representatives. Mr. Parubiy also held separate meetings with Representative John Boehner, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Senator John McCain and Senator Jack Reed, Chair and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He also held high-level official meetings at the Department of Defense, Department of State and the National Security Council. Mr. Parubiy also had interviews with the Editorial Board of the Washington Post and with the Wall Street Journal newspapers. In addition, MP Skrypnyk and group of experts from Ukraine met separately with Senior Advisers to the members of the Senate Ukraine Caucus and Congressional Ukrainian Caucus in the House of Representatives. Together with Mr. Parubiy, they also participated in conferences and round tables hosted by the National Democratic Institute, Brookings Institute, US-Ukraine Foundation, Center for US Ukrainian Relations, US Ukraine Business Council, Jamestown Foundation, Georgetown University, American Foreign Policy Council. The Ad Hoc Committee for Ukraine was instrumental in facilitating the public meetings and interviews, as well as helpful in arranging a number of meetings in Congress. The US Embassy in Kyiv and Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, D.C. were responsible for the official meetings, including the meetings with the executive branch. The Ad Hoc Committee for Ukraine was established in September 2014 to better unify efforts to advocate on behalf of the Ukraine Freedom Support Act and for the establishment of the SUC. Subsequently, the Committee has been working to assure implementation of the Act and to expand membership in SUC. Representatives of the Ad Hoc Committee for Ukraine, Mykola Hryckowian, Marta Farion and Borys Potapenko, organized and participated in the meetings of experts from Ukraine with the Senior Advisers of SUC, UCU, and Senate Foreign Relations Committee. They also organized and participated in Mr. Parubiy’s public appearances and talks, as well as interviews with major newspapers. A major issue at all venues was the question of providing military assistance, including lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine by America. At the outset, Mr. Parubiy provided an effective presentation from a unique perspective as one of the principal leaders of the EuroMaidan “Revolution of Dignity” and as Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council during the transitional government and the first months of the Presidency of Mr. Petro Poroshenko, as well as the current First Deputy Speaker of Parliament. He recalled that on the day that the Maidan was covered in blood, Russia began its armed aggression against Ukraine in Crimea. He also noted that Russia’s war against Ukraine began long before the EuroMaidan protest, including using disinformation, energy, the economy, corruption and sedition as weapons to undermine the government and make Ukraine subservient to the will of the Kremlin. Ukrainians understood that signing the Association Agreement with the European Union was the only way to join the West and defend the country against aggression from Moscow. Ukrainians understood that Ukraine was the lynch pin for restoring Putin’s empire. Ukraine is a nation that survived the Holodomor/Genocide and other crimes against humanity of the Stalinist era and all communist regimes. This is why, Mr. Parubiy emphasized, Ukrainians are prepared to do whatever it takes, make every sacrifice to preserve their independence, as only within a truly independent country can the very existence of the Ukrainian nation be safeguarded. Therefore, removing Putin’s puppet, Yanukovych and his dictatorial regime, became an absolute necessity to secure the independent statehood of Ukraine. Ukrainian defense forces, the army and volunteer battalions, are fighting not only for Ukraine, but are fighting for the civilized world. If Putin was to take Ukraine then other countries will be next, including possibly members of NATO. Putin has thrown down the gauntlet and challenged international norms. He is doing everything he can to divide the EuroAtlantic community, separate the US from Europe, and to break the unity of the West. However, Ukraine must not only fight the invading Russian Army, it also must restore its economy and implement reforms at all levels of governance. This is akin to making major repairs to an airplane while it is in flight, because Ukraine must simultaneously fight against military aggression and undertake military and economic reforms. During Yanukovych’s dictatorship, Putin’s agents operated freely at all levels of government. The new government began to govern only several months ago and is working under extreme pressure. Reform of the military, Ministry of Defense and the military industrial complex is only beginning. At the same time reforms in all other areas of governance also are underway, including in the judiciary. New legislation is being acted upon to assure full transparency of government operations. Despite all of the difficulties and aggression from Moscow, the country was able to successfully conduct presidential and parliamentary elections. A coalition of 300 democratic MPs has been formed in Parliament and a new government has been established. The President, Prime Minister, and Cabinet of Ministers are hard at work. However, the old guard of the former regime has not been fully defeated. Yanukovych’s people have not disappeared. This is why removing them from the bureaucracies of all government structures and agencies is an essential condition for consolidating the nation state. The military component is only one part of Putin’s war in Ukraine. There also is a vicious war of disinformation designed to breed chaos, confusion, divisions in society, suspicions, and destabilization of the state. Destabilization of society and all state institutions, to sow disaffection in the nation—this is the method of the FSB against Ukraine from the very first day of Putin coming to power. It is understood that Putin’s tactic is to create distrust by the people in their government, to destroy social cohesion and then to impose his own order. This was the role Yanukovych played under the direction of Putin. At all appearances at think tanks, academic forums and in Congress, Mr. Parubiy, the other representatives from Ukraine, and, significantly, all high level participants from the US, expressed the need to impose more severe sanctions against Russia, especially its oligarchs and the banking system. However, the greatest consensus was on the question of the need to provide Ukraine defensive lethal weapons to counter Russia’s aggression. Andriy Parubiy emphasized that irrespective of what the West will do regarding providing weapons to Ukrainian defense forces, Ukrainians will continue to fight for their country. The tragic history of Ukraine makes clear that without their own independent state, Ukrainians will be an object for political and physical annihilation as a nation by Russia. This is why Ukrainians will not, cannot, settle for anything less than full national independence on its internationally recognized sovereign territory. The question of military aid is not a deciding factor, because Ukrainians will continue to fight. Maidan was a watershed in the history of the country that forever closes any possibility of the nation returning to the past. Speakers agreed that President Poroshenko signed the Minsk II agreement because of intense pressure, including economic, by Germany and France. There also was agreement that the US must assert leadership among its allies to unify support for Ukraine and to prevent the restoration of Russian hegemony. The newly formed Senate Ukraine Caucus was an important factor in the visit by Andriy Parubiy, as well as in the hearings on Ukraine at the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations that took place the same week. Together, the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus in the House of Representatives and the Senate Ukraine Caucus are important in mobilizing Congressional support, in lobbying the White House and in keeping Ukraine in the forefront of the American public. Therefore, it is imperative for the Ukrainian American community to further unite and coordinate activities to achieve its collective goals. Borys Potapenko with contributions from Marta Farion and Mykola Hryckowian .
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