NEW YORK – Two days of small-scale protests greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s arrival to the United States on Sept. 28.
Demonstrations led by Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and American European Solidarity Council began at the gates of United Nations building early on Sept. 27, rallying hundreds of international protesters including many Ukrainian supporters. The events aimed to condemn Putin’s revanchist moves in eastern Ukraine and Georgia that are seen as a threat to international democracy and Western values.
“We are not here pleading for our case, we are here standing for civilization, said Ronya Lozynskyj, director of external affairs at UCCA, which has been actively involved in foreign policy discussion between American and Ukrainian governments. “We are standing for the ones who can not stand themselves!”
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has been in New York since Sept. 26, using the opportunity for several meetings and public speeches.
Among the crowd of peaceful protesters were lesbian-bisexual-gay-transsexual refugee activists from Russia who further highlighted Putin’s violation of human rights for homosexuals.
Russian opposition member Ilya Ponomarev, the lone vote in the Russian Duma last year against its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, flew from California where he currently lives in exile.
The group used the platform to remember opposition leader Boris Nemtsov’s murder and to plead for peace in both countries.
Ponomarev said early on Sept. 27 that Ukraine shouldn’t be the subject of Syrian tradeoff and exposed disapproval of Putin’s attendance to the UN. Later the crowd chanted “Putin on trial” and “No tradeoff!”
Poroshenko’s summit address reiterated Ukraine’s plan to make decisive steps to defend its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. He said Ukraine spends $5 million a day defending itself against Russia’s war.
In a speech that preceded Putin’s Sept. 28 arrival to discuss the Mideast fighting of extremism, Ukraine and its allies are ready to discuss Russian-backed moves in eastern Ukraine, which Poroshenko said caused a severe economic downfall and rise of poverty.
