Янукович в Америці: "Hola Amigos!"

(Many thanks to Jennifer for this Christmas card worthy gem.)

This week, Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich finished up a whirl-wind PR meet-and-greet in Washington DC. The mission: shed his negative image left over from the Orange Revolution.

Unfortunately, the big prize, a cozy arm chair photo with the president, was one bridge too far.
--“We want a presidential meeting.”
--“You can't have a presidential meeting.”
--“We must have a presidential meeting.”
--“How about the Vice President?”
--“Ok, but no hunting rifles.”
--“Done.”

Along with the VP, Yanukovich played nice with Stephen Hadley, Condoleezza Rice, Bill Frist, Dick Lugar, half of Congress, and the nice folks at CSIS. Eternal Remont was not able to confirm the transcript of his conversation with Condoleezza Rice, but judging by the grit teeth and painful smiles, it looks as if the meeting was a smashing success.

Nevertheless, a win is a win, and Yanukovich is doing this consistently. He just ousted the Interior Minister Yury Lutsenko and Foreign Minister Boris Tarasyuk, looks set to dispatch Defense Minister Anatoly Gritsenko, and as Komersant notes, has President Yushchenko on the ropes, for now.

“Our government will operate for the next five years," Yanukovich said. "Those will be years of predictability and stability. So you can forget about Ukraine's unpredictability.”

We guess so.

PBD