BBG Watch Commentary
Upcoming visit of U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland to Ukraine was announced by the State Department on Thursday and reported a few hours ago by Russia’s RT international media outlet on its English-language news website.
U.S. taxpayer-funded Voice of America (VOA), on the other hand, has not reported this news to its worldwide English audience and audiences in more than 40 other languages.
The only VOA language service reporting about the planned trip of a high-level U.S. official to Ukraine appears to be VOA Ukrainian Service. Not even VOA Russian Service has this news on its website as of 12:15 AM EST, Friday, January 31, 2014. A large segment of the population in Ukraine uses Russian as their primary language.
A State Department press release said that “Assistant Secretary of State Nuland will accompany Secretary Kerry to Berlin, Germany, on January 31 to discuss bilateral and global issues with senior German Government officials. She will then accompany Secretary Kerry to the Munich Security Conference to participate in a wide range of conference events and meet with senior European government officials.”
According to the press release, “in Kyiv, Assistant Secretary Nuland will meet with government officials, opposition leaders, civil society and business leaders to encourage agreement on a new government and plan of action that can put Ukraine back on track toward fulfilling the aspirations of the Ukrainian people for democracy, respect for human rights, European integration and economic growth.”
Russia’s RT reported the planned visit and quoted from the State Department’s announcement.
RT: “Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland will make a stopover in Ukraine after accompanying Secretary of State John Kerry to Germany on January 31. The exact date of the visit to Ukraine has not been announced as Nuland is also scheduled to visit Greece, Cyprus and the Czech Republic.
“Assistant Secretary Nuland will meet with government officials, opposition leaders, civil society and business leaders to encourage agreement on a new government and plan of action that can put Ukraine back on track toward fulfilling the aspirations of the Ukrainian people for democracy, respect for human rights, European integration and economic growth,” a US State Department press release reads. “Ukraine unrest timeline,” RT, January 31, 2014.
It is ironic that worldwide audience must learn about plans for an official high-level U.S. visit to Ukraine from Russia’s international media outlet rather than from U.S. taxpayer-funded Voice of America.
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Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
January 30, 2014Assistant Secretary of State Nuland will accompany Secretary Kerry to Berlin, Germany, on January 31 to discuss bilateral and global issues with senior German Government officials. She will then accompany Secretary Kerry to the Munich Security Conference to participate in a wide range of conference events and meet with senior European government officials.
On February 2, Assistant Secretary Nuland will travel to Athens, Greece to meet with senior Greek Government officials, business leaders and civil society to discuss bilateral and global issues, including economic growth, entrepreneurship, and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
In Nicosia, Cyprus, on February 4, Assistant Secretary Nuland will meet with officials of the Cypriot Government to discuss initiatives to further develop and enhance U.S.-Cypriot relations. She will also meet with Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders to convey American support for accelerating progress toward a fair and lasting settlement of the Cyprus problem through the process facilitated by the U.N. Secretary General’s Good Offices Mission.
Assistant Secretary Nuland will be in Prague, Czech Republic, on February 5 where she will meet with senior Czech Government officials to discuss bilateral and global issues. She will also engage with Czech civil society leaders and members of the business community.
In Kyiv, Assistant Secretary Nuland will meet with government officials, opposition leaders, civil society and business leaders to encourage agreement on a new government and plan of action that can put Ukraine back on track toward fulfilling the aspirations of the Ukrainian people for democracy, respect for human rights, European integration and economic growth.