PRESS RELEASE

February 17, 2006

United States and Ukraine Make Good Progress on
Implementing April 2005 Joint Statement

The U.S. and Ukrainian governments have made considerable progress on implementing the April 4, 2005 joint statement agreed by Presidents Bush and Yushchenko, according to an assessment released today by the Foreign Policy and National Security Task Force of the non-governmental U.S.-Ukraine Policy Dialogue. This progress has added new substance and depth to the U.S.-Ukraine bilateral relationship over the past nine months and it has substantially strengthened Ukraine on its path toward Euro-Atlantic integration.

“The two governments have fully accomplished several key commitments – such as launching an Intensified Dialogue between NATO and Ukraine, granting Ukraine market economy status, and ending or easing visa requirements – and they are progressing on others,” stated Steven Pifer and Yuriy Scherbak, the Task Force co-chairs. They urged Washington and Kyiv to fulfill all remaining tasks by April 4, 2006, the joint statement’s one-year anniversary, as some key issues still need to be resolved. “It is particularly important that both sides complete a bilateral protocol on Ukraine’s accession to the World Trade Organization and that the U.S. Congress enact long overdue legislation to remove Ukraine from the provisions of the Jackson-Vanik amendment,” noted Pifer and Scherbak.

The joint statement was signed during President Yushchenko’s first U.S. visit following the Orange Revolution. Both governments described the document as a road map for developing bilateral ties. The Task Force identified 20 tasks in the statement.

The Dialogue’s Foreign Policy and National Security Task Force monitors U.S.-Ukraine relations, as well as Ukraine’s links with NATO and the European Union. The Task Force is co-organized by the Atlantic Council of the United States (Washington, DC) and the Razumkov Centre (Kyiv). Although the Policy Dialogue is funded in part by the U.S. Department of State, the Task Force’s conclusions are its own.

Click here to download *.pdf copy of the press release English | Ukrainian

Updated information on the Council’s work on Ukraine is available at http://www.acus.org/programs-relations-projects-US-Ukraine.asp