Ukraine foreign minister expects dynamic relations with U.S.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he
expects dynamic relations with the U.S. with the incoming Biden administration,
he said in an interview with the 1+1 television network broadcast on Dec. 31.
“We expect rock and roll. We want very dynamic and driven relations with the
U.S.  America and Ukraine are strategic partners – this is so officially
and practically. That’s why we need to add more sound to this song of strategic
partnership.” The three key priorities with the U.S. will be security,
transforming Ukraine through reforms and investment, Kuleba said. “That is
where the U.S. can seriously help in strengthening the country from within, in
fulfilling reforms,” he said. 

The Trump administration imposed sanctions on more
than 365 Russian individuals and entities since 2017 in response to its
destabilizing and aggressive actions in Ukraine and Europe, U.S. Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo tweeted on Jan. 3. Moreover, the Trump administration
conducted the harshest policy towards Russia than any prior presidential
administration, he said.

Zenon Zawada:
Unfortunately, Kuleba is about to be disappointed with his high hopes for the
Biden administration. Biden’s record in Ukraine has been discredited to a large
extent with the revelations of his son Hunter’s alleged corrupt dealings in the
country, including being hired to work for natural gas extraction firm Burisma
Holdings at USD 83K a month. This was even after a U.S. State Department
warning about Burisma being a corrupt company. And Hunter Biden is reported to
have arranged a meeting between a Burisma top executive and his father, who was
serving as U.S. vice president at the time.

Anti-Putin hawk Tony Blanken is widely believed to be
Biden’s choice for U.S. secretary of state. Yet Blinken was a key figure in the
foreign policy team of the Obama administration, which proved ineffective in
preventing and responding to Russian aggression in Ukraine. The administration
and U.S. foreign policy wonks were proven wrong in their confidence that
sanctions would cripple the Russian economy and force Putin out of Ukraine.

Indeed, we expect the Biden administration to follow
largely the path set by the Trump administration. Although Biden and Blinken
had refused to provide Javelin anti-tank missile systems under the Obama
regime, they can’t renege on this policy introduced by the Trump
administration. Moreover, the neoconservatives behind Trump’s policy in Ukraine
share largely the same views and approaches as the neoliberals on the Biden
team. So there won’t be any rock and roll. There won’t be much investment for
so long as the war in Donbas continues. And there won’t be many reforms as long
as the Zelensky administration continues to defer IMF loan money. All there
will be is the status quo, more or less.