Russian letter suggests impeachment of 'uncompromising' Ukrainian president (01/19/97)

Russian letter suggests impeachment of 'uncompromising' Ukrainian president

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - A letter, allegedly sent by Russia's deputy foreign minister to a presidential foreign policy aide, that proposes a scheme to have Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma impeached, appeared in the Kyiv-based Russian-language paper Vsieukrainskiye Viedomosti (All-Ukrainian Herald) on January 13. Its publication caused in another major tremor in already shaky Ukraine-Russia relations.

The letter, dated October 30, 1996, was allegedly sent to the office of President Boris Yeltsin foreign policy aide Dmitrii Riurikov, by Sergei Krylov, at that time deputy foreign minister and currently the permanent representative to the U.N. offices in Geneva. What appears to be Mr. Krylov's signature is found at the bottom of the letter.

It calls for a coordinated effort to have President Kuchma made out as a puppet of Russia and to use Russia's contacts in Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada to move to impeach the president. It states, "Information from Russia's Embassy in Ukraine tells us that certain influential factions in the Parliament have confided that the initiation of a process to remove the head of state from his position could occur in a campaign of propaganda in which he is accused of involvement in carrying out the strategic designs of Russia."

For four years, Ukraine and Russia have been negotiating unsuccessfully on the future of the Black Sea Fleet and the strategic port in the city of Sevastopol on Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. In the document, the impasse that has resulted is blamed on President Kuchma's "uncompromising policy" that prevents efforts to preserve a united Black Sea Fleet and his refusal to discuss the status of the city of Sevastopol.

The president is also blamed for the ineffectiveness of the CIS because of his refusal to deepen Ukraine's commitment within the CIS framework "under Russia's guidance."

At the outset, the highly classified letter explains that President Kuchma, who many in Ukraine and Russia thought would develop an agenda to strengthen ties with Russia, has become a "destructive" influence on Ukraine-Russia relations. It notes that options must be considered to "counter President Kuchma's anti-Russian destructive policy, whose aim is confrontation in the key areas of Russian-Ukrainian relations." It goes on to mention that "the only possibility to ensure a change in Ukraine's tough stand on the package of strategically important issues is to neutralize President Kuchma's personal influence."

The document suggest two ways in which President Kuchma could be accused of an anti-Ukrainian policy: have both houses of Russia's Parliament suspend discussions on Sevastopol and the Black Sea Fleet and make it appear as though Mr. Kuchma was at fault for not moving toward a compromise; or use Ukraine's energy dependence on Russia to build Ukraine's indebtedness to Russia, which would emphasize the Ukrainian leader's ineffectiveness.

It states that the president's political enemies could then begin a propaganda campaign leading to a proposal of impeachment in the Verkhovna Rada. The letter also suggests that meanwhile, in Russia, the mass media could be manipulated to make President Kuchma's policies look pro-Russian.

The response from official circles in Russia and Ukraine was quick and to the point. At a January 14 press briefing in Kyiv at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs it was stated that Russian Ambassador Yurii Dubinin had been officially called to Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Ministry. While he was meeting with Foreign Affairs Minister Hennadii Udovenko, Russian Embassy Press Attaché Vasyl Titushkin met with the press. He said, "I agree that the letter is highly provocative, but it is a fake," and, "it does not correspond to the facts." He called the author of the article "a person with an overly developed imagination" and said the person who wrote the letter is expressing the view of "people who have no stake in the development and deepening of bilateral relations" between the two countries.

Ukraine's Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Volodymyr Khandogy explained that he does not believe the letter represents the official policy of the Russian government. "I do not think that the letter, if authentic, represents policy, because it was between two individuals who answer to higher-ups," he explained. "We want to hear the official position from authorities at higher levels." He said the Ukrainian government was disturbed, however, about the ramifications of such correspondence among leading Russian government officials. "If this information is authentic, then these actions do not correspond to the norms of civilized diplomatic behavior," he stated.

The official response from Moscow came hours later when Foreign Ministry spokesperson Gennadii Tarasov called the document a contrived one. According to Interfax, he said, "Such things can be done only by people who aim at setting the two brother nations, the two fraternal peoples, at loggerheads."

The two diplomats directly involved in the latest Russia-Ukraine scandal refuted any involvement in the matter. According to another Interfax report, Ambassador Krylov, the former deputy minister whose signature appears at the bottom of the letter, said he had nothing to do with the paper. "This is a fake. There was not and could not be a letter of this kind, because Ukraine is a friendly state," he said. He emphasized, "We closely and very fruitfully worked with Leonid Kuchma prior to his election as president of Ukraine and afterwards, when he became the head of a state friendly to Russia."

Mr. Riurikov, who is alleged to have been the recipient of the letter, called it a "dirty low-grade fabrication whose aim is patent." He said the document was "concocted by lousy professionals" and that Russian experts had already identified several potential suspects.

Ukraine was not as quick to accept the theory that it was a forgery. On January 15, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Volodymyr Horbulin said the government is concerned about the appearance of such a letter. "I can only say that the current state of affairs between Ukraine and Russia cannot exclude the possibility that the source is accurate," he explained. "Only recently Dmitrii Riurikov said the appearance of a Ukrainian state is a temporary phenomenon - a statement that appeared in the International Herald Tribune."

In Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada speculation as to the author's identity and the letter's aim ran rampant. National Deputy Yevhen Lupakov said the letter is more proof that "anti-presidential and anti-Ukrainian activities pursued in Ukraine are coordinated from Russia." He also recalled that the Communist Party in Ukraine had stated not long ago that its actions are "well-coordinated, vigorous and are directed against the president."

Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko implicated President Kuchma in the affair. He said it was "an act to raise the president's rating." He also suggested that it was meant to cause an uproar that would put off the signing of a treaty on friendship and cooperation between Ukraine and Russia because NATO and Ukraine had signed a secret back-door agreement on cooperation.

There are even more far-fetched theories as well. One, printed in the Kyiv newspaper Den on January 15, quoted a "Ukrainian diplomat who wished to remain anonymous." It states that Dmytro Tabachnyk, the recently fired head of President Kuchma's administration, had coordinated the plan to get back at his former boss.

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