Author: Orest Deychakiwsky

One of the main stories coming out of Ukraine this year will be elections, elections, elections. Presidential elections will be held on March 31, with a likely run-off between the top two vote-getters three weeks later, on April 21. Later this year, in October, Ukrainians will again go to the polls to elect a new Verkhovna Rada. These will be important national elections for charting additional necessary reforms that would enhance Ukraine’s independence and democracy, drawing Ukraine closer to the Euro-Atlantic community of democratic nations and further away from a hostile, autocratic Russia. And Russia’s ongoing aggression makes these elections all the more challenging.

Six months have passed since the death of Sen. John McCain, a true American hero and one of the most consequential American political figures on foreign policy and national security matters of the last three decades. 

As I contemplated what to write about for my next column, it dawned on me that three of the most historic events in Ukraine of the last three decades occurred, or got their start, in the late November/early December time period. As a long-time policy advisor at a government agency, the U.S. Helsinki Commission, I had the opportunity to travel to Kyiv and witness at least parts of these three momentous events. So, permit me, dear reader, to switch from my usual focus on Washington and share some reminiscences from Kyiv.

In past columns, I have often noted that Ukraine has many friends in our nation’s capital. Among the most vibrant and visible organizations headquartered in Washington supporting Ukraine is the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC), a private, non-profit, international business organization. The council was established in October 1995 to advance the trade and investment interests of American companies in Ukraine’s significant emerging market, advocate for measures to improve conditions for bilateral trade and investment, and generally promote strong, friendly bilateral ties. 

PART II Post-Maidan: 2014-2018 Not surprisingly, Congress began to pay even more attention to Ukraine during the Euro-Maidan Revolution of Dignity, with several high-profile visits by senators to the Maidan and with the passage of resolutions both in the House and Senate in early 2014. These resolutions supported the Ukrainian people’s aspirations for freedom and...

PART I It has sometimes been difficult for Ukraine to find international support, but a strong argument can be made that Ukraine has had few better friends over the course of the last century than the United States Congress. This was especially true in the decades leading up to the dissolution of the Soviet Union...

Has there ever been such incongruity in foreign policy with respect to Russia between a United States president and, well, just about everyone else? The Trump administration’s mixed messages have raised many questions and created confusion about U.S. policy towards Russia. As well as towards Ukraine.  The bad news: President Donald Trump’s baffling words and...

This year marks the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor, Stalin’s genocidal Famine that claimed the lives of millions of Ukrainian men, women and children. This atrocity stands out as one of the starkest examples in history of man’s inhumanity to man. Earlier this year, Senate Ukraine Caucus Co-chair Rob Portman (R-Ohio) introduced a resolution (S....

In recent visits to Washington, Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev and other Crimean activists have reminded us of the precarious situation that exists on the Russian-occupied Ukrainian peninsula. Human Rights Watch has called Crimea a black hole where human rights are in freefall and warned that, without international support, Crimean Tatars and others arrested on...

Dear Editor: In his letter to the editor (“Actions speak louder than words,” April 22), Jaroslaw Martyniuk cites a couple of points I had made in my March 25 “Washington in Focus” column titled “Ukraine’s Security Matters for the West.” as a springboard for some of his own arguments. For those who may not have...

I suspect most Ukrainian Americans, including myself, grew up in the United States not giving much thought to Belarus, Ukraine’s closest ethnic and linguistic kin. Perhaps one reason for this was that relations between the two historically have been peaceful, in contrast to just about all of Ukraine’s other neighbors that had invaded and occupied...

Over time, there has been a growing understanding in Washington that Ukraine’s security matters to the West, especially following Russia’s invasion of Ukrainian territory four years ago. Even prior to the war, there was a broad recognition in the West – more so in Washington, less so in much of Europe – that a secure,...