US President George W. Bush will make his first official state visit to Kyiv on April 1, the White House confirmed.
During the visit, the US and Ukrainian presidents will discuss bilateral relations, an action plan for 20082009, and possibly sign a document based on such a plan, said Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine’s president.
“In particular, Ukraine’s accession to NATO’s Membership Action Plan (MAP) will be discussed with the utmost attention,” Yushchenko told a March 12 press conference in Brussels.
Bush will arrive in Kyiv on the eve of the April 2 to 4 NATO summit in Bucharest, revealing the high priority US foreign policy is placing on Ukraine’s potential MAP membership.
During the summit, NATO member states are expected to consider Kyiv’s request for a framework establishing steps towards eventual membership.
Ukraine’s leaders submitted a letter requesting admittance to the NATO MAP in January.
On March 17, Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko sent another letter to NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, repeating the request for a MAP invitation.
Parliamentary Chair Arseniy Yatsenyuk was excluded from the letter after his first signature sparked the parliamentary opposition to launch a weekslong blockade in protest.
Yushchenko and Tymoshenko also sent letters to French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel requesting their support for Ukraine’s MAP membership.
The US supports Ukraine’s NATO ambitions.
“It is not a question of whether; it is a question of when,” said US Ambassador to NATO Victoria Nuland about Ukraine’s membership.
Bush will arrive in Kyiv in the late evening of March 31.
In addition to meeting Yushchenko, Bush will meet with Tymoshenko, a group of Ukrainian students, and attend a cultural event, the US Embassy reported.
He will depart in the evening for Bucharest, in what will likely be the only visit of his eightyear presidency, which critics said overemphasized the Middle East and overlooked Ukraine.
Former US President Bill Clinton paid Ukraine three official visits in 1994, 1995 and 2000, and has returned several times after his presidency.
Most recently, Clinton became the first US president since Franklin Roosevelt to visit Yalta in attending the 2007 Yalta European Strategy summit hosted by Victor Pinchuk.
