Kyiv, October 28, 2014. Despite other contemporary problems throughout the world, the U.S. Senate remains committed to supporting Ukraine. This was stated by Senator Inhofe during his press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center. U.S. Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma has just completed a visit to Ukraine to meet with Ukrainian officials and assess the situation in the country. Inhofe is a member of the Republican Party and the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee in the U.S. Senate
“We have other problems – with ISIS, with Ebola—but Ukraine is also an important issue for us,” stated Inhofe. During the Senator’s time in Ukraine, Inhofe met with Prime Minister Yatsenyuk, Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), and President Petro Poroshenko. He was impressed with his talks with Ukrainian officials and expressed his deep dismay with the direction that Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken his country.
“I remember what happened during the Reagan revolution and what happened in the Soviet Union,” he said. Inhofe celebrated the democratic changes that occurred in Eastern Europe during the 1980s. “I feel that Putin is trying to de-Reaganize the Soviet Union,” stated Inhofe. The positive changes that happened then are being reversed in the Russian Federation, he noted.
Senator Inhofe also praised the conduct of the Ukrainian parliamentary elections on Sunday. “The elections that took place in the elections were incredible.” Inhofe pledged that “the United States of America is going to be considered Ukraine’s best friend.” He praised the efforts of President Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, saying that the United States has confidence in their abilities.
Inhofe also promised that support for Ukraine in the U.S. Senate will only increase following the Congressional elections on November 4, in which it is believed that a Republican majority will win the Senate. “I’ve never seen once person received more favorably than Poroshenko was in the House and the Senate,” he stated. “He was proved a rare person who has the intelligence and capability to serve as a partner of ours.”
Senator Inhofe had some advice for the newly elected Ukrainian parliament. “Start your reforms. Get busy on your reforms to build up your freedom,” he stated. “We believe that you will.”
