Chrystia Freeland, US Managing Editor of Financial Times believes that Ukrainian politics is confusing for the West
“There is general understanding in the United States that Ukraine is a democracy and Washington pays serious attention to that fact since there are very few democracies on the post-Soviet space,” – says Chrystia Freeland, US Managing Editor of Financial Times, who came to Ukraine upon the invitation of Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s “Open Ukraine” Foundation. Mrs. Freeland spoke at the Diplomatic Club which is a common initiative of Open Ukraine Foundation and Victor Pinchuk Foundation. At the meeting she also stressed that Ukrainians themselves should understand the importance of their democracy which is a big victory of the country and its citizens.
However, from Mrs. Freeland’s perspective, constant political tensions in Ukraine complicate the international dialogue since Ukraine remains incomprehensible for outside world. Moreover, “during the financial crisis the US is mostly focused on relieving its consequences for the American economy, finding the way to assist those people who lost their jobs and homes, - this captures most of the political energy of the new President Obama’s Administration. At the moment foreign policy as such is not the top priority for the new Administration and under the circumstances no one is ready to spend additional time in an attempt to grasp Ukraine’s internal conflicts”.
Chrystia Freeland is sure that Ukrainians, having experienced revolutionary changes and difficult economic circumstances of the 80s and 90s are psychologically better prepared for facing the crisis phenomena compared to successful and prosperous Americans who did not experience similar turmoil for more than 70 years now.
Mrs. Freeland pointed out to one of the major points of the discussion within the US that is whether the current crisis will foster the transition of economic powers from America to Asia, namely, to China. This belief was also shared by many Ukrainians, participating in the Diplomatic Club meeting. At the same time Mr. Arseniy Yatsenyuk voiced the idea that no new geopolitical players will emerge as the result of the crisis. This crisis will be resolved first of all in the USA, where it started. “At present each country looks for solutions on its own, and this is the most unsettling tendency, and common global response is hard to envision”, summarized Mr. Yatsenyuk.
The following members of the Diplomatic Club also participated in the debate: Leonid Kuchma, President of Ukraine (1994-2005), Volodymyr Khandohiy, acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Anatolij Zlenko and Hennadij Udovenko – former Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, members of the parliament – Yurij Miroshnychenko and Iryna Herashchenko; also - Yevhen Marchuk and Volodymyr Horbulin, analysts Oleksiy Haran and Valeriy Chalyj, Ambassadors Volodymyr Vasylenko and Roman Shpek.
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