Month: March 30, 2018 8:49 am

KYIV – In a unified policy decision, 27 countries and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) banished 151 Russian diplomats over the alleged assassination attempt of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England. 

Moscow has denied it was behind the March 4 attack in Salisbury that United Kingdom authorities suspect was committed using a lethal nerve agent developed by the Russian government. 

WASHINGTON – Eugene Czolij, president of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC), participated in a panel discussion at the Atlantic Council in Washington on Tuesday, March 20.  The focus of the two-part panel was the price tag of the Kremlin’s aggression in Ukraine.

Mr. Czolij, partner at the Lavery law firm, based in Montréal, along with other panelists including attorneys, economists and business leaders, spoke of the legal and international conditions for financial compensation and loss of future assets due to war.

On March 24, 134 bodies of victims of Soviet terror in the western Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankivsk were given a…...

Vasyl Hrytsak, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (known by its Ukrainian-based acronym as SBU), announced on March…...

NATO expelling staff at Russian mission  NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated, “The attack in Salisbury was the first use…...

KYIV – The European security organization responsible for monitoring the deadly conflict between government forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern…...

NEW YORK – The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA), the largest grassroots representation of Americans of Ukrainian descent, welcomed the passage and signing into law on March 23 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018, which stipulates that “not less than $420,700,000 shall be made available for assistance for Ukraine.”

The expulsion of over 140 Russian diplomats by the governments of 27 countries in response to Moscow’s actions in the Skripal case show that the West is finally beginning to understand that appeasement won’t work with Vladimir Putin either, according to Ukrainian commentator Vitaly Portnikov.

“Vladimir Putin and the Russian officials doing his bidding must face severe consequences for their destabilizing activities around the world. The announcement of the expulsion of dozens of Russian intelligence officers is the latest sign that the U.S. is fighting back against Russian aggression and nefarious global actions. This announcement comes on the heels of U.S.-imposed sanctions for election meddling. We must respond strongly to Russia – its government does not share our interests or values and has succeeded in sowing discontent in the United States and among our greatest allies. We must continue to denounce and punish Putin’s actions without hesitation.”

– Rep. Leonard Lance (R-N.J.) in a statement released on March 26 in reaction to the expulsion of Russian intelligence officers from the United States and the shuttering of the Russian Consulate in Seattle.

“It is encouraging that the Trump administration, in coordination with our allies in France, Germany, the U.K., and other countries of the EU, expelled Russian diplomats in response to the Skripal poisoning. This is important because allied unity is one of our greatest advantages in dealing with Kremlin aggression and provocations. The administration’s decision, not just to expel 60 Russian diplomats, but especially to close the Russian Consulate in Seattle, will make it much harder for Moscow to conduct espionage in the United States.

“While excellent, the coordinated trans-Atlantic action against Moscow should not be an excuse for the U.K. to rest after its expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats. The Skripal attack is the second known Kremlin chemical weapon strike on British territory. That requires a much stronger reaction than expelling 23 diplomats. Let’s hope that vested interests in London do not prevent the imposition of British sanctions. If we want to see an end to such violations of sovereignty, the United States and others in Europe should coordinate with London to place additional sanctions on Russia.”

– Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst, director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, commenting on March 27.

CLEVELAND – U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) met with representatives of Ohio’s nationalities communities at a gathering on Monday, March 19, chaired by the president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA), Andriy Futey.

The meeting, organized by the American Nationalities Movement of Ohio, was attended by over 35 representatives of the Ukrainian, Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian, Jewish, Czech, Slovenian, German, Slovak, Bulgarian, Greek, Italian, Macedonian, Hungarian and Lebanese communities and was held at the Lithuanian Community Center in Cleveland.

TORONTO – Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) President Eugene Czolij recently completed a working visit to Brussels, Belgium, where he participated in events of the European Parliament and met with high-ranking officials of the European Union with the goal of strengthening support for Ukraine.

On February 27, Mr. Czolij was co-chair and addressed an event titled “Human Costs of Russian aggression in Ukraine” that was organized in the European Parliament (EP) by the chair of the EP Subcommittee on Security and Defense, Anna Fotyga, with the support of the director of the UWC Mission to International Organizations in Brussels, Maryna Iaroshevych.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – The Connecticut District Committee of the Ukrainian National Association, which encompasses UNA branches in Ansonia, Bridgeport, Hartford,…