Barack Obama to host new Ukrainian PM at White House
Washington: President Barack Obama is hosting the new Ukrainian Prime Minister at the White House, a high-profile gesture aimed at cementing the West’s allegiance to Ukraine’s fledgling government.
US and Europe have declared the referendum illegitimate, saying Ukraine’s Central Government must be involved in decisions about its territory. The dispute over the future of the former Soviet republic has conjured up echoes of the Cold War tensions between East and West.
Amid the symbolism of Yatsenyuk’s visit to US, the Ukrainian leader will also be seeking financial assistance from Washington. Yatsenyuk says his country needs the West’s help to defend itself against neighboring Russia, a nation he said is “armed to the teeth.”
Ukraine’s Parliament installed Yatsenyuk as head of the country’s interim government after pro-Kremlin President Viktor Yanukovych fled the capital of Kiev following three months of popular protests. The uprising started when Yanukovych rejected a planned partnership agreement with the European Union in favor of historical ties with Moscow.
A possible path for de-escalating the dispute emerged Tuesday, when Crimea’s parliament said that if the public votes to become part of Russia, the peninsula will declare itself independent and propose becoming a Russian state. That could give Moscow the option of saying there is no need for Crimea to become part of Russia while keeping it firmly within its sphere of influence.
Yatsenyuk will be greeted at the White House today by all of the grandeur of a head of state visit, including an Oval Office meeting with Obama.
