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On January 28th the Institute of World Policy held a video conference “Euromaidan: what can the U.S. do?”The event was attended by U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (1998-2000), senior fellow at the Brookings Institution Steven Pifer, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (2003-2006) John Herbst, director of the Kennan Institute Matthew Rojansky, and deputy director of the Kennan Institute William Pomeranz.
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The event was organized by the Institute of World Politics in cooperation with the Kennan Institute (Washington, DC ).
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American diplomats and experts unanimously agreed that Ukraine should independently determine its foreign policy and find its own solution to the ongoing political crisis. According to Ambassadors, Mr. Yanukovych has begun to offer concessions can be a sign that he is ready to a make some steps.
At the same time former U.S. Ambassadors to Ukraine Steven Pifer and John Herbst had repeated for Ukrainian experts and journalists fifth main messages what Washington and Brussels should do in order to reach a peaceful settlement and return Ukraine to a democratic path.
First, the US and EU should make clear to Yanukovych that he must refrain from the use of force and must negotiate seriously to find a resolution to the crisis. In particular, he must offer shared control over state security organs with the opposition. He needs to provide concrete assurances that the 2015 presidential election will be free and fair, including that Mr. Klitschko can run and that former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko will be released from prison.
Second, besides the revocation of visas for Ukrainian officials Washington should impose financial sanctions against those close to Mr. Yanukovych and their families.
Third, Ukrainian opposition should leave Yanukovych a way out in order to avoid more bloodshed and the stress on Ukraine’s unity.
Fourth, the EU needs to maintain a high-level team in Kyiv and act as a mediator.
However, American diplomats stressed that Western influence in Ukraine is limited. According to them, the current crisis in Ukraine has internal roots and external actors are not the major players in this crisis.