Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Victor Yushchenko's congratulations to Barack Obama on assuming office of the President of the United States

Dear Mr. President,

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

I am deeply amazed by the scale of goals set in your election program and by clarity of vision of how to achieve them. I sincerely wish you every success in your important state mission. I am looking forward to close and productive cooperation with your Administration in a spirit of strategic partnership and friendship that unites our nations.

Fully aware of seriousness of the tasks that the United States now face as the leader in solving the most critical global problems of humanity, overcoming world financial crisis and withstanding contemporary security challenges, I want to assure you of Ukraine’s readiness to further take part together with our American friends in their resolution.

We are deeply proud of the progress we have reached in relations between Ukraine and the USA since our country gained independence. In last seventeen years a firm foundation for Ukrainian-American bilateral ties was laid. Ukraine-United States Charter on Strategic Partnership, signed at the end of 2008, became an embodiment of growing positive dynamics of the relations. I would like to stress assurance that this document, which is marked by the spirit of friendship and mutual understanding, and summarizes key priorities for Ukraine-United States cooperation, will serve a reliable beacon for cooperation between our nations in the nearest future.

With regard to the abovementioned i would like to propose leveling up the status of current basic coordinative mechanism of our cooperation – Ukraine-United States Bilateral Coordination Group, by bringing it up at the level of leadership of the two countries. Such an approach, I believe, would adequately reflect both the level of our cooperation and importance of our mutual tasks.

The consecutive support of our country’s strategic course of gaining full-fledged membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization by the United States is highly appreciated in Ukraine. We are looking forward to maintaining fruitful cooperation with your Administration in that area, particularly to support of political signal about perspectives of Ukraine’s accession to NATO we saw at the Bucharest Summit, and of the decision by December ministerial meeting of the organization about bringing up cooperation with our state to a new level, as the important steps towards Ukraine’s full-fledged membership in the alliance.

I am deeply moved by your personal attention to subject of honoring victims of genocide against Ukrainians – the Holodomor of 1932-33. I believe our further cooperation in that direction would bring closer world recognition of the nature and scale of this Ukrainian nation’s tragedy and helps to propagate the truth about this horrific page in Ukrainian history.

Using the opportunity, I would like to renew to you my invitation to visit Ukraine in the nearest time convenient for you. I am assured that your visit to our country would give a new powerful boost to development of strategic partnership relations between Ukraine and the United States of America.