1st of April there were amazingly few cars on Kreshchatik, the main Kiev’s street. The local drivers seemed to have taken into consideration the warning made by Valery Geletei, the chief of the state guard service. He had asked the Kiev dwellers not to drive and not to walk in the places where the American president would be moving, and not to get on the roofs, and not to go out to their balconies, and not to shoot any videos or take photos, and even not to wave to the motorcade, as the president’s snipers could consider any movement to be an attack and they could start shooting.  

Considering that usually there are no restrictions in the city and even president’s office is easy to approach, the inhabitants perceived the security measures to be an annoyance. Some even took it for a Fools Day joke.   

Only people with residence permit were allowed to the streets lying along the Bush’s itinerary. Those streets were blocked with iron bars and the red trucks loaded with sand. Some enjoyed their unexpected day off, but most of people were angry. No one saw the snipers, but military helicopters were circling over the city. Only fearless communists gathered for meeting in Maidan (the main Kiev’s square) and stood in the rain. There were about 200 people and same number of the police force. 

Three national TV stations broadcasted live all the events George Bus took part in. The American president tried to get liked by Ukrainians. He greeted in Ukrainian the guard of honor. Later at the press conference he promised he wouldn’t compromise with Russia and would insist on Ukraine’s joining the NATO Membership Action Plan. “I said on the phone to Putin ‘You must not be afraid, as NATO brings democracy’” he said.   

Official smiles by American delegation members became warmer during the breakfast where chicken Kiev and cherries dumpling – national Ukrainian dishes – were cooked with the foodstuffs brought from the USA. When Yulia Timoshenko appeared wearing a pink dress, the President Bush even expressed a wish to have a tête-à-tête talk with her, which was not provided for in the protocol.   

In conclusion, Yushchenko and Bush laid the wreaths to the Monument of Victims of Golodomor (Great Starvation period) instead of usual laying it to the Monument of the Unknown Soldier. Then they visited the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Kiev where they were met by a child folklore collective with the baked “crane cakes”. However, children did not dare to present the cakes to the US resident. “We were warned not to approach Mr. Bush and so we were afraid of doing it” owned Solomeya, the soloist of the child choir.