Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko met at his official residence in Kiev with Viatcheslav Kantor, the president of the Russian Jewish Congress (RJC) and head of the World Holocaust Forum Foundation. Yushchenko praised the initiatives undertaken by Jewish organizations in Ukraine and around the world.
At the meeting, both men underscored the importance of holding World Holocaust Forums, and they discussed the state of preparations for the Second World Holocaust Forum in Kiev in September. “The Holocaust is not just a Jewish tragedy; it is a tragedy that belongs to the whole world,” Yushchenko stated.

Kantor stated that “Jews are active in many different ways in which they remind the world of the sanctity of human life, causing Jews and non-Jews alike to reflect on human values.” He went on to call the upcoming forum in Babi Yar, Kiev “…a pulpit from which world leaders can come together to take a united stand against the growing dangers of xenophobia and racial intolerance, which raise their heads in an atmosphere of weak historical memory and conscious denial of the Holocaust.”