Subject: Re: Joe Biden Urges Lawmakers in Ukraine to Fulfill Promise of Uprising - The New York Times
From: "David Wade" <[email-masked]>
To: "Eric Schwerin" <[email-masked]>
Cc: "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Devon Archer" <[email-masked]>, "Vadym Pozharskyi" <[email-masked]>, "Ryan Toohey" <[email-masked]>, "Sally Painter" <[email-masked]>, "Karen Tramontano" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 8 Dec 2015 12:06:46 -0500

Agree. Especially since I don't know what Risen could think he could write
different from the rehash the WSJ ran already.

On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 11:25 AM, Eric Schwerin <[email-masked]
> wrote:

> All:
>
> Peter Baker’s NYT wrap up article from the VP’s trip is up and makes no
> mention of MK, Burisma or Hunter.  It would be odd to see Risen’s article
> run after the VP is wheels up.  But never can be sure.  Fingers crossed.
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/09/world/europe/joe-biden-ukraine.html?_r=0
>
> Joe Biden Urges Lawmakers in Ukraine to Fulfill Promise of Uprising
> Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. of the United States addressed the
> Ukrainian Parliament in Kiev on Tuesday from a lectern with a poster
> calling for the release of the Ukrainian pilot Nadiya V. Savchenko, who is
> being held in Russia. Sergei Supinsky/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
>
> KIEV, Ukraine — Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
> <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/joseph_r_jr_biden/index.html?inline=nyt-per>
> urged Ukrainian leaders on Tuesday to curb the power of the business moguls
> dominating society and to fulfill the promise of the popular revolution
> that pushed out a pro-Moscow government
> <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/03/06/world/europe/russias-endgame-in-ukraine.html>
> last year.
>
> Addressing the Ukrainian Parliament, Mr. Biden sternly lectured lawmakers
> to put aside their own self-interests and to transform this former Soviet
> republic into a model of democratic change.
>
> Citing the failure of the Orange Revolution
> <http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/02/world/europe/power-behind-the-scenes-in-ukraine-crisis.html>
> of 2004 to deliver enduring change, the vice president urged Ukrainians not
> to let this opportunity slip by as well.
>
> “This is your moment,” he told them. “This is your responsibility. Each of
> you, if you’ll forgive me for speaking to you this way in your body, each
> of you has an obligation to seize the opportunity that the sacrifices made
> in the Maidan, the sacrifices of the Heavenly Hundred. Each of you has an
> obligation to answer the call of history and finally build a united,
> democratic Ukrainian nation that can stand the test of time.”
> Graphic Russia’s Endgame in Ukraine
>
> How Russia aims to achieve its goal of keeping Ukraine isolated from the
> West.
> OPEN Graphic
>
> <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/03/06/world/europe/russias-endgame-in-ukraine.html>
>
> By invoking the memory of the roughly 100 protesters killed during protests
> in Maidan Square
> <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/23/world/europe/ukraine-protests.html>
> last year, Mr. Biden hoped to infuse today’s legislative battles with the
> moral imperative of the uprising, which led to a pro-Western government.
> Many in Ukraine
> <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/ukraine/index.html?inline=nyt-geo>
> worry that the new leaders have become so paralyzed by their own power
> struggles
> <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/18/world/europe/in-ukraine-corruption-concerns-linger-a-year-after-a-revolution.html>
> that they will squander the chance for change.
>
> For Mr. Biden, who has made it his mission to nurse Ukraine through its
> transition, it was a classic performance from the lectern in the grand
> chamber of the Parliament, known here as the Rada. At times, he shouted at
> the lawmakers, gesturing sharply. At other points, he practically
> whispered. At still other moments, he wagged his finger.
>
> Citing John Adams, Thomas Paine, Edmund Burke and Daniel Webster, Mr.
> Biden talked about the United States’ own struggles to build democracy. He
> also cited a quotation from an American politician he did not identify: “In
> your heart, you know it’s right,” he said. (The phrase is actually a
> variation of the slogan in an ad made for the Republican presidential
> candidate Barry Goldwater in 1964.)
>
> But it was not clear whether Mr. Biden’s message really got through.
> Lawmakers, many listening to an interpreter through earphones, sat silently
> during the long lecture on corruption and applauded only when Mr. Biden
> assailed Russia for its intervention in Ukraine. The one standing ovation
> they gave Mr. Biden came when he said that Russia had infringed on
> Ukrainian sovereignty and that the United States would never recognize the annexation
> of Crimea <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/19/world/europe/ukraine.html>.
>
> “Russia has violated these ground rules and continues to violate them,” he
> said. “Today, Russia’s occupying sovereign Ukrainian territory. Let me be
> crystal clear: The United States does not, has not, never will recognize
> Russia’s attempt to annex Crimea.”
>
> He added that he would tell the world about Nadiya V. Savchenko
> <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/14/world/europe/no-deal-to-free-ukrainian-pilot-russia-says.html>,
> the Ukrainian helicopter pilot being held in Russia; her picture was
> displayed on a poster on the lectern from which Mr. Biden spoke, with the
> slogan, “Freedom for Nadiya Savchenko.”
>
> And the vice president committed to keeping American sanctions on Russia
> until Moscow complies with a cease-fire brokered in Minsk
> <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/13/world/europe/ukraine-talks-cease-fire.html>,
> Belarus. “There can be no sanctions relief unless and until Moscow meets
> all, all of its commitments under Minsk,” Mr. Biden said.
>
> But his main message to the Ukrainians was, in effect, to get their house
> in order. The day before, he had suggested that many in Europe were waiting
> for Ukraine to fail so that they would have an excuse not to continue
> confronting Russia.
>
> Mr. Biden specifically called for an overhaul of the office of prosecutor
> general, change in the energy sector, transparency about official sources
> of income, disclosure of conflicts between government responsibilities and
> business and other measures.
>
> “If you fail, the experiment fails,” he said. “It’s no exaggeration to say
> the hopes of freedom-loving people the world over are with you.”
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Eric D. Schwerin
> Rosemont Seneca Advisors, LLC
> 1010 Wisconsin Ave., NW
> Suite 705
> Washington, DC 20007
> (202) 333-1880
> [email-masked]
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>