Foreign Minister Udovenko cites similarity in U.S. and Ukrainian positions on NATO (10/27/96)

Foreign Minister Udovenko cites similarity in U.S. and Ukrainian positions on NATO

by Yaro Bihun
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

WASHINGTON - U.S. and Ukrainian government positions on NATO expansion, "while not identical, coincide in many respects," Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Hennadiy Udovenko said on October 22, following talks here with senior Clinton administration officials.

Later that same day, President Bill Clinton announced his plans for the expansion of NATO, which would bring the first group of East European countries into the alliance in 1999.

Speaking in Detroit, Mr. Clinton did not indicate which countries would be in the first group to join NATO. He said they would be selected by NATO in 1997 and would become full-fledged members in 1999, NATO's 50th anniversary year and the 10th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Ukraine has repeatedly stated that, as a neutral country, it has no intention of joining NATO or any other bloc, but neither does it oppose acceptance of its neighbors into the Western alliance. The Ukrainian government, however, has recommended certain conditions for NATO expansion: that it unite rather than divide Europe and that it take into account Ukraine's security concerns.

Foreign Affairs Minister Udovenko reviewed these and other issues with Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Deputy Secretary Strobe Talbott, Defense Minister William Perry, Deputy National Security Advisor Samuel Berger and other Clinton administration officials here on October 21-22.

With the obvious intent of easing Ukraine's concern as well as the concerns of those Eastern European countries that want to join NATO but will be left out of the first group, President Clinton made the following promise:

"I also pledge, for my part and I believe for NATO's part as well, that NATO's doors will not close behind its first new members. NATO should remain open to all of Europe's emerging democracies who are ready to shoulder the responsibilities of membership. No nation will be automatically excluded. No country outside NATO will have a veto.

"We will work to deepen our cooperation, meanwhile, with all the nations in the Partnership for Peace. A gray zone of insecurity must not re-emerge in Europe."

Responding to Mr. Clinton's announcement, his Republican opponent in this year's presidential election, Bob Dole, accused the administration of "foot dragging."

"The time to begin expansion for Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic is now ... [and] we should set a firm deadline of 1998 for the expansion of NATO to include these countries," former Sen. Dole said.

In the meantime, he added, a "framework of peace" in Europe must include assurances to the Baltic states and Ukraine. "This is particularly important given the ongoing instability in Russia," he said.

Ukraine, as Minister Udovenko pointed out in his public appearances in Washington, recommends that the expansion process be "evolutionary" and not rushed; that NATO strengthen its relations with Ukraine as it expands; and that NATO not introduce nuclear weapons on the territory of the new NATO members.

During his meetings with U.S. officials, Mr. Udovenko said they also reviewed the following.

The state of U.S.-Ukrainian relations: "Both sides expressed their satisfaction at the high level of U.S.-Ukrainian relations and their future potential."

The U.S.-Ukraine Binational Commis-sion, headed by President Leonid Kuchma and Vice-President Al Gore, reaching agreement on the work schedule for its four subcommittees.

U.S. economic assistance to Ukraine: "We expressed our gratitude that the U.S. Congress is pursuing a bipartisan policy with respect to Ukraine, recently passing a large assistance package for Ukraine."

Issues to be addressed at the upcoming Lisbon summit of the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Mr. Udovenko also carried a letter for President Clinton from President Kuchma that, among other things, deals with the "strategic partnership" between Ukraine and the United States as stated in the Kuchma-Gore Commission declaration. What needs to be done now is work out the details, Mr. Udovenko said. "We have to realize it and identify the goals of this strategic partnership."

Ukraine's foreign affairs minister stressed that Kyiv is not playing "the Russian card" in its talks with the U.S. government, and it has not asked Washington to help mediate Ukraine's problems with Russia.

Ukraine and Russia have ongoing negotiations on a number of unresolved issues - over the division of the Black Sea Fleet and the basing of the Russian Fleet in Ukrainian ports as well as the 20 percent tariff Russia has placed on imports from Ukraine.

"Since August we have had a very successful negotiating process on many issues, and we sense that the Russian side is interested in normalizing its relations with Ukraine and in solving our major problems," Mr. Udovenko said. On his way to Washington, Minister Udovenko had stopped in Moscow for talks with Russian officials on some of these issues.

The latest dispute between the two countries came out of the Russian Duma, which passed in its first reading a resolution calling for a cessation of negotiations on the division of the Black Sea Fleet and questioning Ukraine's sovereignty in Crimea.

The Ukrainian Parliament reacted forcefully, Mr. Udovenko said, but the government, understanding that the official position of the Russian president and executive branch differs from that of the Duma, continued to pursue the matter at the negotiating table.

"I cannot say that this is a normal situation," Mr. Udovenko commented during a discussion at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, one of his three public appearances while in Washington. "But what is normal - the negotiations are taking place, ministers meet, they discuss. As I always say, it is better to talk than to [make] war."

Even so, he added, "We must take into consideration the position of the [Ukrainian and Russian] Parliaments, because after the agreement is signed, we must bring it for ratification to the Parliaments. So we cannot disregard this situation."

Mr. Udovenko also questioned the effectiveness of the proclaimed "strategic partnership" between Ukraine and Russia: "If, after five years, we haven't been able to sign a friendship treaty, what kind of strategic partners are we?"