USA/UKRAINE Over the past week, I have been in Washington and Chicago together with fantastic colleagues from the parliamentary network United4Ukraine. Our delegation consisted of Žygimantas Pavilionis (Lithuania), Ruslanas Baranovas (Lithuania), Johannes Koskinen (Finland), Johannes Volkmann (Germany), Radosław Fogiel (Poland), Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze (Ukraine), Pablo Hispan (Spain), and myself. The purpose of the trip was to discuss the importance of continued U.S. support for Ukraine.
I arrived in Washington on Monday, and in the evening Poland’s Chargé d’Affaires, Mr. Bohdan Klich, welcomed us to the Polish Embassy for dinner with engaging and insightful discussions.
On Tuesday morning, we went to the Embassy of Ukraine and met Ukraine’s Ambassador, H.E. Ms. Olha Stefanishyna, where we received an up-to-date briefing on the situation in Ukraine. Russia is increasingly targeting critical energy infrastructure, leaving the Ukrainian population without electricity, heating, and water, with the aim of breaking the will to defend. This has also prompted me to raise this issue in a written question to the Swedish government.
This was followed by good and interesting roundtable discussions at both the Atlantic Council and The Heritage Foundation.
At the U.S. State Department, we met Kevin Covert, Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, in a meeting that I experienced as cautiously positive regarding U.S. support for Ukraine. We then received a thorough briefing at the EU Embassy from H.E. Ms. Jovita Neliupšienė, Ambassador of the European Union to the United States, who gave us the EU’s assessment of the situation in the U.S.
We then met journalists from among others AFP, CNN, Politico, Lithuanian public broadcasting, and Kyoto News, who asked questions about our delegation, our trip, and how we view the situation in Ukraine and the United States. Naturally, there were also many questions about the U.S. position regarding Greenland, and I emphasized that I believe it is a major mistake on the part of the U.S. to begin dividing allies, when what we need now is unity. (https://www.politico.com/…/greenland-negotiations…, https://uazmi.com/news/post/2a878c64032a607c4d4fe41a8c16004a).
After the press meeting, we headed to Capitol Hill and met Congressman Mike Turner (R-OH), Chairman of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Turner is one of the more prominent members of Congress advocating continued support for Ukraine.
The day concluded at the Lithuanian Embassy, where H.E. Mr. Gediminas Varvuolis, Ambassador of Lithuania, hosted us with excellent food and rewarding conversations with Congressman Don Bacon, a truly Reagan Conservative. It was very pleasant to meet Mr. Bacon at the reception and to speak about the importance of continued U.S. support for Ukraine.
On Wednesday morning, we returned to Capitol Hill for a meeting with our friend Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) of the House Appropriations Committee. He is not only a true friend of Ukraine but also of the Cuban opposition. I had the privilege of meeting Diaz-Balart already in September when I participated in the Salvar a Cuba (Save Cuba) conference in Miami (https://www.bjornsoder.net/bjorn-soder-erholl-kubanska…/). It was a very good meeting, but Diaz-Balart pointed out that the double standards of many European states – wanting the U.S. to impose even tougher sanctions on Russia while at the same time criticizing U.S. sanctions against the communist regime in Cuba (https://www.riksdagen.se/…/sveriges-stod-i-fn-till…/) – mean that we risk losing even the strongest advocates in Congress for further sanctions against Russia.
We then went to the White House to meet Spiro Ballas, Senior Advisor for National Security Affairs in the Office of the Vice President, and Charles J. McLaughlin IV, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Europe and Russia. They emphasized that U.S. interest in Europe is vital and firmly anchored. At the same time, I felt it was clear that not even these two gentlemen, who are in the immediate proximity of President Trump, know exactly how the President himself is reasoning.
After the White House, we went to the International Republican Institute (IRI) and met Daniel Twining, President; Steve Nix, Regional Program Director; and Scott Mastic, Vice President for Programs. IRI is also an organization with which our own foundation, the Hepatica Foundation, cooperates, including in Ukraine, and I was very pleased to hear their positive view of Hepatica. From Hepatica’s side, we are grateful for and proud to cooperate with an organization like IRI.
Back on Capitol Hill, we met both Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Co-Chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, and Congressman Brian Mast (R-FL), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, to discuss support for Ukraine.
We then continued to the Victims of Communism Memorial (VOC) Museum, where we held a roundtable discussion with, among others, Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL). There, I also met my dear friend Dr. Orlando Gutierrez Boronat from the Cuban Democratic Directorate and the Alliance of the Cuban Resistance, with whom I have cooperated for several years on efforts to stop the EU cooperation agreement with the Cuban communist regime (https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/sok/?doktyp=fr%2Cmot…). He was able to share the encouraging news that the European Parliament had voted earlier that same day to stop the agreement. We can only hope that this will now lead the Commission to do just that.
The evening concluded at the Swedish Embassy, where our Ambassador and my former Speaker colleague, H.E. Mr. Urban Ahlin, invited the delegation to dinner and engaging discussions with Ms. Kim Kagan and Mr. Frederick Kagan from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), as well as Lars van Dassen from the World Institute for Nuclear Security. It was truly great to meet Urban again!
We said farewell to some members of the delegation who were heading elsewhere or returning to their home countries, and on Thursday morning the journey continued to Chicago, where we began with a briefing at the Lithuanian Consulate General. We then went to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs for interesting roundtable discussions, in which Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) also participated.
At Chicago City Hall, we met the Mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson (D). Chicago is a sister city of Kyiv, and therefore the city’s interest in Ukraine is very strong. The city also has a significant diaspora from Ukraine, as well as from Lithuania and Poland. The evening concluded at the Polish Consulate General together with representatives of the Polish diaspora.
Friday was my last day in Chicago, as my Finnish colleague and I needed to travel home. The others were to stay one more day before returning. The day began with an interview with Stephanie Zimmermann of the Chicago Sun-Times. We then went to the University of Chicago for a discussion on “The Future of Ukraine in Europe.” Due to the extreme cold in Chicago (close to −30 degrees Celsius, with schools closed for the day), many chose to follow the discussion online instead. Nevertheless, some brave students had defied the cold and made their way to the university. The discussions covered largely the same topics as those raised when we met journalists in Washington.
I then had to say my goodbyes and head to the airport. Before doing so, however, I made a quick stop at the Swedish American Museum and the Swedish Honorary Consulate, where I met Ms. Karin Moen Abercrombie, Honorary Consul of Sweden in Chicago, and Ms. Anna Engström Patel. They gave me a tour of the museum, which is dedicated to Swedish history in Chicago. It is a truly fantastic museum that I can highly recommend. I was also sent off with some travel provisions – a cinnamon bun and Swedish coffee – for the onward journey to the airport. Thank you for the guided tour, the cinnamon bun, and the Swedish coffee!
I would also like to thank the entire delegation for the cooperation and for the great time together during otherwise very dark times. Special thanks to Zygis, who was our delegation leader and organized the trip, and to all the diplomats involved who put together such an excellent and rewarding program for us.
Slava Ukraini! 
BJÖRN SÖDER
