US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s and US envoy Kurt Volker’s visit to Kyiv is a signal that the United States does not trade in Ukraine’s interests.
This opinion was expressed by the chairman of Kyiv city organization of the “Ukrainian Association of Patriots – UKROP”, Head of the Charity Fund “Maidan of Foreign Affairs” Bohdan Yaremenko in the TV program “Time. Results of the day (behind the scenes)” on the air of 5th Channel.
“They’re just starting to work. This is an inception visit to a certain extent. They only talk with all participants of the process: both with the Europeans and the Ukrainians, and will continue to speak with the Russians. So, despite the fact that we did not hear anything new, this does not mean that the visit is not important. What has been done is in our interests. Because this is perceived not only as a signal for us, but also a signal for the Russian Federation: that Ukraine’s interests are not traded in, and it is repeated all the time,” stressed Bohdan Yaremenko.
At the same time, the politician has noticed that Kurt Volker’s position on the Russian aggression in Ukraine is significantly different from that of the US President Donald Trump.
“Kurt Volker has repeatedly spoken in extremely clear terms about the Russian aggression and on NATO enlargement, which makes it possible to clearly understand his position. It is, apparently, very favorable for Ukraine. Another problem is that the only authoritative person in Trump’s surrounding is Ivanka Trump. And Kurt Volker is not one of those people who can convince Trump. And that is the problem. In fact Volker’s position in many respects does not coincide with the position of his two chiefs – Tillerson’s, expressed before holding the position of State Secretary, and Trump’s. He will be forced to seek a compromise. Trump, no matter how he criticizes Obama for a weak position, after half a year of his presidency has come to what Obama has done, his policy is not different – we restrain Russia, we believe that it is acting wrong, and cooperate wherever it is possible,” said Bohdan Yaremenko.
The UKROP representative is convinced that Ukraine may be given a MAP for eventual NATO membership when all the countries of the alliance agree to its membership in the organization.
