Europe and Eurasia: Remarks at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
Assistant Secretary Nuland: Thank you Rector Huberski, thank you students. I am so sorry to be late, I am so sorry to keep you waiting. I am so delighted to be here with the future of Ukraine.
You know, every time I come to Kyiv, Ambassador Pyatt makes me see 20 people, 40 people, and all of them are way too old. And this time I said let’s go see the youth of Ukraine. So thank you for waiting. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to see you today.
As those of you who have been to Washington know, in the middle of my hometown there is a statute of the namesake of this university, Shevchenko. And on this 200th Anniversary it’s fitting that we all together recollect one of his great sayings which is imprinted on the bottom of the statute in Washington. It is an inscription to the liberation, freedom, and independence of all captive nations. That’s what Shevchenko fought for. And you, at this university and across Ukraine, are the successors of his legacy. It’s you, who inspire not only your own country — it’s you, the students of Ukraine, who inspired not only your own country but also the entire world that change is possible, and that if you are willing to stand up for freedom, if you are willing to stand up for democracy, if you’re willing to stand out in the cold as so many of you did just last winter, things can change. And you are the ones who fought for a clean, democratic, free European Ukraine. A Ukraine with dignity. You are the ones who convinced your parents and your grandparents that it was possible. And you are the ones who convinced my country and countries around Europe and around the world to support you. So remember that, no matter how hard it gets, that this started with you and it is you who will carry it forward and it is you who will be its beneficiaries.
And there already has been some success. You’ve had free and fair elections. You have a new president in President Poroshenko, who ran on a platform of peace and unity and who has already taken brave and difficult and sometimes unpopular decisions for peace, and Ukraine has benefited. You’ve had the support of Europe, you’ve had the support of the world, you’ve had the support of my country. Ukraine this year has received $290 million in U.S. financial support plus a billion dollar loan guarantee. And now you have what so many of you stood on the Maidan for, you have an Association Agreement with Europe and a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. So for that, these are successes of yours. Give yourselves a round of applause.
But I know and we know that Ukraine has paid a high price. And I’m going to guess that in many of your families that price has been felt very personally. Crimea is occupied. The war in the east took more than 3,000 Ukrainian lives and several hundred Russian lives.
Today what Ukraine needs more than anything is peace, is security, is unity, and is a clean and accountable government. And I say to you that just as you started this, the future of this is very much in your hands. Just as you fought for a fresh start, now you have to fight to end it and to end it well. To end it democratically. To end it accountably.
You need to fight now for peace. You need to fight for unity. You need to fight against corruption. You need to fight for that clean, accountable Ukrainian government that you stood in the snow for. You need to fight for a free media. You need to fight for justice and accountability for the victims.
Let’s start with peace. I know that for many Ukrainians the September 5th Minsk Agreement was controversial, as was September 19th. I will tell you that from an American perspective the September 5th Minsk Agreement as written was a very good agreement. The question now is will it be implemented as it was written.
We know that it is not being implemented today. The shooting has not stopped and the shooting must stop at Donetsk Airport, at Debaltseve, at Shchastya. All foreign forces and foreign equipment must be withdrawn. All the hostages must be returned. Notably, including Nadia Shevchenko.
And today, as much attention must be paid to Point Four of the agreement, that is, the international border and securing it and restoring Ukrainian sovereignty on the international border, as has been paid to securing the line of control and the special status areas. And we are concerned. We are concerned now that that border remains open, supplies and equipment for the separatists continue to be purveyed. And there will not be peace, there will not be economic sovereignty, there will not be political sovereignty, there will not be unity, there will not be safety and security for the Donbas until that border is closed.
So, when the Ukrainian government puts forward a concrete plan for securing that border, it will have the support of the United States, it will have the support of Europe, it will have the support of the OSCE countries.
And I would venture to guess it will also have the support of the people of the Donbas. How many of you come from the east of Ukraine? Raise your hands. I see at least ten percent of this audience. I would argue today that it is the people of the Donbas who have been victimized the most in this conflict. They are the ones who are trapped in the middle of this violence and living in cities today and towns and villages with no water, no electricity, no future, barely any opportunity to earn a living.
So Donbass too must be a part of Ukraine’s future. And if that border can be secured, if free, fair elections can be held not only on October 26th across Ukraine for the Rada, but also on December 7th out in the Donbas, everybody will benefit.
So we also call on you, even as you work to secure your future here in Kyiv, to reach out to those in the Donbas who are suffering and tell them that you see their future in Ukraine too, and that you want them to come back to a place where they see prosperity, they see a future, they see peace, they see security, as part of a unified Ukraine.
We believe that the east of Ukraine can also be a bridge. It can be an economic bridge and frankly, without it, Ukraine will be stressed economically.
Which brings me to a second challenge, the economy. You all know how much change needs to happen here, how much reform is necessary, how much reconstruction will also be needed in the east. We are committed to being your partners in that, but only you can do the hard work there.
The biggest threat to Ukraine’s economic future — I don’t have to tell this crew but I will, is corruption. Today, corruption is one of the biggest threats to your future, but it’s also one of the reasons that you stood out on the Maidan, was to have a clean and accountable government.
So I say to you as you work for a stronger future for your country, it is in your hands to demand better of your government. So when you go out and vote, when you go on October 26th, and I hope every single person in this room will use their franchise, look for those candidates who are promising to bring you a cleaner, more accountable government. Insist that they open their finances, open their accounts, and demonstrate to you that if they get your vote they will work for the people of this country and not for themselves.
The biggest threat to Ukraine in addition to the search for peace, the search for security, the search for reform, is also internal complacency.
On this trip as on every trip we’ve met with people across the political spectrum, we’ve met with people in the government, we’ve met with people in civil society and everywhere everyone says it is so hard, there are so many problems, we have so many external threats and challenges. Your biggest threat is internal complacency. You made the changes that you’ve seen so far possible. You have to continue to fight to see them delivered. That means you have to fight to have a clean Ukraine, you have to fight to have the future that you deserve.
So I ask each of you. Go out and vote on October 26th. Keep pushing for peace. Keep pushing for unity. Keep pushing for accountability. Keep pushing for checks and balances in your internal system. Keep pushing for a clean, accountable judiciary. Be active in your communities. Work for your country. Be builders, not destroyers. Be budivel’niki, be stroitely of your country. Sorry, my Ukrainian’s not so good. And as you take those steps, the United States will stand with you. Our allies in Europe will stand with you. We will support the peace that you are working for with monitors, with technical equipment on the border, and with the moral authority that you stand on the side of right.
We will support your security with a program we have already instituted to train and advise your military and rebuild it after the devastation of the conflict. We will support your commitment to economic reform with technical support, with assistance, with advice, including in the energy sphere. And we will continue to support the people to people exchanges that make us strong as nations.
Some of you may well be alumni of one of our strongest people to people programs, the Future Leaders Exchange, our high school exchange that brings more than 200 Ukrainians to high schools across the United States. Do we have any FLEXers in the room? All right. Look at that. Fantastic.
As you’ve probably heard, the Russian Federation made a decision last week to cancel our 2015-2016 FLEX program in Russia, to deny their own citizens the opportunity to study in the United States. This is something that saddens us, because also in Russia the alumni of the FLEX program are one of the greatest bridges between our countries and the greatest speakers of truth of the importance of a strong relationship there. So we hope that we’ll be able to restore our program in Russia in the not too distant future. But, in the meantime, we will have more than 100 extra high school slots for Ukrainians as a result of not being able to work in Russia. So, more than 300 Ukrainians will be able to go to U.S. high school next year.
We are committed to helping you and supporting you in your effort to build a clean, democratic European future for your country. We don’t do this because we like you, although we do. We don’t this because we have deep ties of family and culture with millions of Ukrainian-Americans making our own cities strong, although we do, and some of you may have relatives in the United States. We do this because a successful, clean, strong, united, democratic Ukraine is the best antidote to forces of yesterday on this continent, forces of aggression, forces of violence, forces of corruption. Ukraine today, and your success, is the lynchpin to our 20-year dream of a Europe whole, free, and at peace. And not only a Europe: you are also a beacon for people around the world who want to live in greater freedom, who want to live in greater security, who want to live with greater dignity.
So you have a very important future ahead of you. Thanks for all you do every day. We are proud to be your partners. Slava Ukraini!