Udovenko delineates Ukraine's foreign policy objectives

by Khristina Lew

WASHINGTON - Foreign Affairs Minister Hennadiy Udovenko met separately with Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott on July 26 to discuss the creation of a Gore-Kuchma Commission and make plans for his own working visit to the nation's capital this fall.

The proposed U.S.-Ukrainian commission, similar to the U.S.-Russian Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission, will encompass the full spectrum of U.S.-Ukrainian relations. The commission will be divided into four working groups, with the political group tentatively co-chaired by James Collins, U.S. ambassador at large for the new independent states, and Anton Buteyko, acting first deputy foreign affairs minister. Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Kostyantyn Hryshchenko said that work on the commission is curtailed by Mr. Gore's involvement in the Clinton re-election campaign.

Mr. Udovenko also gave Mr. Talbott a letter to Secretary of State Warren Christopher that outlined Ukraine's proposal for the creation of a nuclear-free zone in Central and Eastern Europe. "Ukraine is without nuclear weapons, and as NATO expands eastward, hypothetically, there will be nuclear weapons in the region," he said, explaining that a nuclear-free zone would augment European security.

During his two-day visit to Washington as a member of Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko's delegation, Mr. Udovenko also addressed the Nixon Center for Peace and Freedom, a foreign policy think-tank headed by Dimitri Simes.

In his address, the foreign affairs minister reiterated Ukraine's intention to fully integrate into European structures and emphasized the need for a special partnership between Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

"We are convinced that the NATO enlargement should become an open, evolutionary process, accompanied by the development of international cooperation in the field of security with all the interested countries of the region, including non-applicants. While enlarging, the inherent security interests of all states of the region, including non-applicants, especially Ukraine, should be properly taken into account," he said.

Plans are under way for Minister Udovenko to officially visit Washington in September or October.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, August 4, 1996, No. 31, Vol. LXIV

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