Ukrainian, Russian academicians discuss bilateral relations

by Dmytro Filipchenko

KYYIV - On January 9-10, a group of high-ranking academicians and influential parliamentary consultants from Russia and Ukraine met here in closed sessions billed as "Steps to a Common Ground 1."

Sponsored by the Kyyiv periodical Politolohichni Chytannia (Readings in Political Science), and the Eastern Center for Current Documentation in Moscow, the conference was held to discuss matters of division of the former Soviet Union's assets, the future of Ukraine's status as a nuclear state, the emerging trend of regionalization in both countries, the divergence between Ukraine's and Russia's system of government, the influence of strikes on bilateral relations, and the possibility of a resurgence in Communist ideology.

This was the first professional and non-partisan discussion of the current state of affairs affecting both countries. It provided a forum for dispassionate examination of areas of disagreement in the approaches of the two governments, and allowed similarities in policy to emerge as well. For Natalia Viatkina, editor of Ukrainskyi Ohliadach (Ukrainian Observer), the crux of divergence in policy lies in the fact that "even the consistently democratic forces in Moscow perceive the demise of the USSR as a tragedy, while the broad consensus in Kyyiv holds that it marked the beginning of the emergence of Ukraine as a powerful modern state."

Although the meetings, held aboard the ship Academician Hlushkov, were not open to journalists, participants spoke of plans to release transcripts of the discussions at a later date.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 17, 1993, No. 3, Vol. LXI

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