Ambassador Taylor Calls for Political Unity in Face of Financial Crisis

Dobroho Dnya. I'm very glad to be back, talking with Ukrainian people at the beginning of November. This is an important time for Ukraine and an important time for the United States. It's an important time for Ukraine because like Europe, the United States and the rest of the world Ukraine is facing a very serious economic crisis. This is a time that Ukraine is going to have to unite and come together. The president and the prime minister and the Rada are all going to have to work together to deal with this crisis as it comes. This is a financial problem that affects banks, Ukrainians in their jobs, steel exporters, and it affects all people who are taking out a loan to buy a house or a car. This problem, again, because it affects all of Europe, all of the United States, all of Asia and all the working markets, is an issue that we all have to deal with.

It is going to be difficult. That is why it is going to take unity on the part of Ukrainians and unity among countries. There is the possibility, if a bill can be passed in the Rada that the International Monetary Fund can provide assistance, if the International Monetary Fund is providing assistance to other countries. Other countries around the world are dealing with this problem and they need help. Ukraine can get this help from the International Monetary Fund, other European banks, such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development that can provide funds, the United States government is looking to see how we can help. This is an effort that is going to require all of us working together. This effort will require unity; this is not a time when politics can get in the way.

At the end of last month, President Yushchenko visited President Bush in the United States. It was the time when the financial crisis was becoming clear in the U.S. As President Yushchenko came in and sat down, President Bush told President Yushchenko that he had just lost a vote in Congress. The Congress had just turned down an important bill, similar to the bill being discussed today in Ukraine. A month ago that bill was being considered in the United States by our Congress. And our Congress had just turned it down. President Bush was very disappointed, the financial markets were very disappointed with the turnout of that Congressional vote and the U.S. stock markets went down dramatically over the next couple of days. Three days later our Congress came back and reconsidered that bill and passed it. Republicans and Democrats pulled together so that they could pass it. The bill for 700 billion dollars has already begun to take effect in the United States. That's what needs to happen here in Ukraine. People need to come together, all the deputies in the Rada need to come up and pass this bill, so that the International Monetary Fund can come in and give a hand. That's what needs to happen in Ukraine.

Another new experience that happened during this crisis is that both Republicans and Democrats came together, but also the two presidential candidates came together. Senator Obama and Senator McCain came back from the campaigns and voted together for the same bill, that I had mentioned earlier. Again, that's what also needs to happen in Ukraine.

Speaking of our election campaign, we are very close to the end of this election campaign that started out many months ago with several different candidates on the Republican and Democratic sides. We have a system of primaries that narrows down the candidates, and these primaries on the Republican side narrowed down the candidacy to Senator McCain, and on the Democratic side to Senator Obama. They have been debating over the last couple of months, Americans have been very interested in this election, probably more so than any election that I can remember in my experience. We will know within a week whether we'll have the first woman Vice President of the United States or if we have the first African American President in the United States, so we are very excited about this election. I look forward to telling you about the winner of our election next time we talk, and about the outcome of the vote in the Rada. Thank you very much.