VICTOR YUSHCHENKO CONGRATULATES BARACK OBAMA ON
ASSUMING THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

Office of the President of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine, January 20, 2009

Dear Mr. President,

On the day of your inauguration, it gives me great pleasure to congratulate you on behalf of the Ukrainian nation and from me personally on assuming the office of the President of the United States.

We are greatly impressed by the large scale of objectives set in your election agenda and by the clarity of vision you have of how to achieve them. I sincerely wish you every success in your important state mission. I am looking forward to close and fruitful cooperation with your administration in the spirit of strategic partnership and friendship that exists between our nations.

Being fully aware of the complexity of the tasks facing the United States as the leader in resolving mankind?s most acute global problems, overcoming the world financial crisis and dealing with security challenges, I would like to assure you that Ukraine is ready to continue to take an active part in these efforts jointly with our American friends.

We are proud of the progress made in the relations between Ukraine and the USA since our country gained independence. As a result, a firm foundation has been laid in the past 17 years with regard to Ukraine-American relations. The Ukraine-United States Charter on strategic partnership signed in 2008 has become an indicator of the growing positive dynamics of our relations. I am convinced that the Charter reflects the spirit of friendship and mutual understanding between Ukraine and the US as well as the key priorities for cooperation between our countries. It will serve as a reliable beacon for cooperation between our countries in he future.

Given the abovementioned, I would like to propose to raise the status of the current basic mechanism for coordinating our cooperation, the Ukraine-US Interagency Coordinating Group, by bringing it up to the level of both countries? chief executives. Such an approach will adequately reflect both the already attained level of our cooperation and the importance of our mutual tasks.

We highly value the degree of support given by the United States to our strategic aim of becoming a full-fledged NATO member. We hope the fruitful cooperation toward this goal will be preserved under your new presidential administration, notably, in supporting the political signal we saw at the Bucharest summit about the prospects for Ukraine to enter the NATO as well as the decision by NATO foreign ministers at the December meeting on raising cooperation with Ukraine to a new format towards Ukraine?s full-fledged participation in the alliance. 

I was deeply moved by your personal attention to commemorating the memory of the 1932-1933 Famine (Holodomor) in Ukraine. I believe our future cooperation in this area will help the world realize the true nature and dimensions of this tragedy of Ukrainians and spread the words of truth about this gruesome page in Ukrainian history.  

I would like to offer to you my invitation to visit Ukraine in a time most suitable for you. I am sure such a visit will give a new powerful impetus to the development of the strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United States.

Victor YUSHCHENKO

NOTE:  Unofficial translation by the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC), Washington, D.C., www.usubc.org.