NATO secretary-general visits Kyiv; offers no new commitments to Ukraine (04/21/96)

NATO secretary-general visits Kyiv; offers no new commitments to Ukraine

by Marta Kolomayets
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana Madariaga lauded cooperation between the alliance and Ukraine, emphasizing the important role Ukraine plays in the stability of Europe, but offering no major new commitments to this new independent state, just south of expansive Russia.

"NATO attaches great importance to the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine. Your country has played an important role in the stability and security on the continent of Europe," said the NATO chief during a news conference on April 15.

Mr. Solana, who arrived in Kyiv that morning for a one-day visit, is the first NATO chief to visit Ukraine. During a packed day of meetings with President Leonid Kuchma, Prime Minister Yevhen Marchuk, Defense Minister Valeriy Shmarov, Foreign Minister Hennadiy Udovenko and members of the Ukrainian Parliament, Mr. Solana spoke of an "enhanced relationship" between NATO and Ukraine.

But the term "enhanced relationship" was not defined, nor were any documents signed between the alliance and Ukraine during Mr. Solana's visit, which the NATO chief called "very fruitful."

He said that his conversation with President Kuchma was "very frank, very sincere and very fruitful," but did not divulge any details, adding only that the special relationship with Ukraine "has opened all kinds of possibilities and we will explore it."

Later, at a news conference with Foreign Minister Udovenko, he told reporters that the special partnership with Ukraine was forged back in September, when a "16 plus one" relationship was clinched in Brussels, which allows the two sides to discuss various security issues. (There are 16 NATO member-states; the one refers to Ukraine.)

Foreign Minister Udovenko emphasized that the special relationship of which Mr. Solana spoke includes Ukraine's active participation in the Partnership for Peace program, its cooperation in the Council of NATO cooperation, its commitment to peacekeeping with the IFOR troops in Bosnia, as well as official visits between NATO and Ukraine, such as Mr. Solana's one-day trip to Kyiv.

He also noted that the two sides had signed documents last year which emphasize a deepening of relations in many fields, including scientific-technical research, economic, military and ecological cooperation.

However, Mr. Udovenko, like all of the officials Mr. Solana met with in Kyiv, emphasized Ukraine's non-aligned status, as proclaimed in Ukraine's 1990 Declaration of State Sovereignty and reaffirmed in the 1991 Proclamation of Independence.

"Ukraine intends to move toward NATO, not into NATO," President Kuchma told reporters after a meeting with Secretary-General Solana.

Volodymyr Horbulin, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security Council, explained that Ukraine is looking for ways not to enter NATO, but to move toward NATO.

"When everything starts moving toward the creation of an all-European security system, then the need will arise to abandon neutrality and our non-aligned status. But we want at least one country to take the first step of joining NATO," said Mr. Horbulin.

Despite the fact that Ukraine welcomes closer cooperation with NATO, its leaders are worried that this country of 52 million may become a buffer between NATO and Russia.

For this reason, they insist that NATO enlargement should be done in stages, openly and only in agreement with Russia and Ukraine. President Boris Yeltsin has strongly opposed any NATO expansion stating that this threatens Russia's vital security interests. Mr. Solana, who was in Moscow last month, publicly disagreed with the Russian Federation's leaders, saying that NATO expansion is inevitable.

Ukraine, which also steps gingerly in relations with Russia, has taken a wait-and-see approach in further relations with NATO, and does not plan to change its status as a non-aligned state until NATO begins to proceed with its enlargement.

Mr. Solana did say that NATO has no plans to station nuclear weapons in countries bordering Ukraine if it grants membership to those countries.

He praised Ukraine for its involvement in the Partnership for Peace -Ukraine was the first ex-Soviet republic to join in early 1994 - and since that time has participated in several joint military exercises. He also expressed gratitude for its peacekeeping efforts, pointing out that Ukraine was one of the few countries to station troops in both Bosnia and East Slavonia.

In the past, Ukraine has also been hailed by NATO leaders for voluntary elimination of its nuclear arsenal, with about three-fourths of the 1,900 warheads from its nuclear arsenal already dismantled.

Kyiv was Mr. Solana's first stop in a tour of 12 Central and Eastern European states as part of the alliance's efforts to pave the way for accepting new members. His next stops were Lithuania and Estonia on April 16, followed by Latvia on April 17. Later in the week, he was scheduled to visit Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. All of these countries want to be included as NATO expands.

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