The Ukrainian Weekly (https://www.ukrweekly.com/uwwp/author/anton_holovin/page/9/)
Dayana Yastremska had not won a tennis match since playing Simona Halep of Romania in two tight sets in Rome last fall. An exonerated Yastremska made a triumphant return to action at the inaugural Hamburg European Open on July 8 after she defeated Magdalena Frech of Poland 7-6(5), 6-1 in her first match since she was cleared of an anti-doping rule violation charge in June of this year.
PARSIPPANY, N.J. – Dayana Yastremska and Max Purcell of Australia lost in the mixed doubles semifinal on September 8 against Giuliana Olmos of Mexico and Marcelo Arevalo of Argentina 6-4, 4-6, 6-10 at the U.S. Open. In the quarterfinal, Yastremska and Purcell defeated Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan and Fabrice Martin of France 6-2, 6-3.
KYIV – A group of five U.S. lawmakers led by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) paid an unexpected visit to Ukraine on the same day that the Russian operator of a controversial natural-gas pipeline announced that it had completed the final stages of welding it together.
Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and Rep. William Timmons (R-S.C.) met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other high-level officials to reinforce their bicameral legislature’s bipartisan support for the country’s national security.
LVIV – During his trip to the United States, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., on September 2 where he met with the company’s chief executive officer, Tim Cook, according to the office of the Ukrainian president.
Additionally, during the trip to the U.S., Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov met with Google’s vice president to discuss YouTube’s recommendation algorithm, as well as programs aimed to encourage Ukrainian content creators on YouTube, Mr. Zelenskyy’s office reported.
LVIV – During an official visit to the United States, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed a group of students, academics and entrepreneurs at Stanford University on September 2. Mr. Zelenskyy spoke on the topics of digitalization, dual citizenship, Belarus and the dynamic growth of the IT sector in Ukraine, according to the office of the Ukrainian president.
Mr. Zelenskyy was welcomed to the university by Francis Fukuyama, the director of the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University, and Michael McFaul, director of the school’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to the United States (August 31-September 2) succeeded, at least, in halting the degradation of the bilateral relationship, under way since 2019, particularly after the advent of the Joseph Biden administration. The White House’s temptation of a neo-reset with Russia has translated into neglect of Ukraine and decisions detrimental to it (see below).
Mr. Zelenskyy’s Washington visit has nevertheless prompted both governments to refocus on their long-declared but under-fulfilled strategic partnership. Major statements of intent at the inter-governmental and private-sector levels during this visit, coupled with bipartisan Congressional support, have given the strategic partnership the chance of a fresh start.
NS2 critic appointed to State Department
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has appointed an outspoken critic of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 (NS2) pipeline to oversee policy for Central and Eastern Europe at the State Department following backlash over its decision to allow the project to move ahead. Robin Dunnigan, who served as deputy assistant secretary for energy diplomacy in the State Department’s Bureau of Energy Resources from 2014 to 2017, will help craft policy toward Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, as well as Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, a spokesperson told RFE/RL.
PARSIPPANY, N.J. – The Ukrainian National Association (UNA) will hold its 40th quadrennial convention in May 2022. That convention will mark a pivotal moment for the UNA, which recently adopted a new corporate governance structure that replaced the organization’s Executive Committee with a new Corporate Board of Directors.
At the upcoming convention, delegates to the general assembly, which is the organization’s highest governing body, will elect the UNA’s next president/chief executive officer (CEO), a new Corporate Board of Directors, as well as members of the Audit Committee and the Fraternal Advisory Board. The newly-elected Board of Directors will then appoint a secretary/chief operating officer (COO) and a treasurer/chief financial officer (CFO) by a majority vote during its first organizational meeting after the convention.
The following statement was released on September 7 by members of the European Parliament who recently visited Ukraine to express support for Ukraine’s European aspiration. The statement was issued to rebuff remarks made by Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, who said Ukraine would need to wait 20 years before it could join the European Union.
NEW YORK – Ukrainian diplomatic missions around the world continued marking the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s renewed independence on August 24. The celebrations continued even after the final fireworks had been extinguished in Kyiv. One such event took place here, in the city at the crossroads of high diplomacy.
Following on the success of its virtual independence day celebration in August 2020, which was notable in that it featured prominent participants and an extremely reach program, the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations set its sights on an even larger gathering this year.