Ukraine-NATO relationship on agenda of Kuchma visit to D.C. (04/06/97)

Ukraine-NATO relationship on agenda of Kuchma visit to D.C.

by R.L. Chomiak
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

WASHINGTON - Next month, when President Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine comes to Washington for a meeting with Vice-President Al Gore - for a principals' meeting of the Kuchma-Gore Commission - they should have very few, but tough, items on the agenda to work out.

This is because the commission itself works continually, dealing with "the full range of issues, problems and ideas ... in a systematic and purposeful way," explained Jack R. Segal, director of the Office of Ukrainian, Belarusian and Moldovan Affairs at the U.S. State Department. Mr. Segal spoke on March 21 at a Friday Evening Forum of The Washington Group (TWG), sponsored jointly with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington.

"In prior years, without the structure provided by the commission, our work had been episodic and reactive," Mr. Segal said. "With the commission, we face deadlines that push the respective bureaucracies to move issues to resolution." What the two principals will address, he continued, "will be [issues] that those less senior officials are unable to decide or those that pose such difficult choices that they require the most senior consideration."

TWG board member Orest Deychakiwsky, who organized the forum, introduced Mr. Segal as the official with a special vantage point on Ukrainian issues: he coordinates them among the top State Department officials, desk officers and American diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv. He also is in frequent contact with Ukrainian officials: his latest visit to Kyiv, for a meeting of the Security Committee of the Kuchma-Gore Commission, took place just two weeks before the TWG-CSIS forum; earlier in March he participated in Washington talks between Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Hennadii Udovenko and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

One of the issues Mr. Segal expects to be on the agenda during the Kuchma visit will be Ukraine's relationship with NATO, and by way of illustrating the dynamic ties between Ukraine and the United States, he outlined for the audience what has been accomplished so far:

"Last fall, the Ukrainian side approached the U.S. with a proposal to codify Ukraine's relationship with the alliance in some formal way, with a document recording the alliance's understanding with Ukraine.

"Ukraine presented a very well-reasoned proposal for describing what would be a unique relationship with NATO, that went beyond that of simply participating in NATO's Partnership for Peace.

"Ukrainian experts came to Washington to discuss their ideas with American experts who work closely with our NATO mission in Brussels. Together, as partners, we helped Ukraine refine and develop further these ideas. And we encouraged the Ukrainians also to make their case directly to other members of the alliance.

"Over the past three months, Ukraine has outlined its proposals to many of our NATO allies in the European capitals. In February, a significant step forward was taken when the North Atlantic Council approved a draft framework for NATO's relationship with Ukraine and began discussions with Ukrainian Ambassador to NATO [Borys] Tarasiuk.

"Yesterday in Brussels, Foreign Minister Udovenko and National Security and Defense Council Secretary [Volodymyr] Horbulin, accompanied by a team of Ukrainian government experts, began negotiations with NATO Secretary-General [Javier] Solana over the substance of the Ukraine-NATO relationship.

"As we move forward in this process, the NATO allies are in agreement on a very important goal. That goal, expressed by Secretary Albright at NATO headquarters February 18, and in several other fora since then, is to complete the document defining the NATO-Ukraine relationship in time for the July NATO summit in Madrid.

"I can hardly think of a clearer statement of Ukraine's standing in the new Europe than our having this document ready in time for that historic meeting."

Later, during the question-and-answer period, Mr. Segal noted that the work on Ukraine's charter with NATO is proceeding independently from work on a charter with Russia. He predicted that the two documents would be different, although it wasn't possible to say at this time in what way.

Bruce Connuck, Ukraine desk officer at the State Department, who was invited by Mr. Segal to take part in the question-and-answer session, emphasized that the U.S.-Ukrainian strategic partnership is a permanent arrangement in which consultations on various issues are dealt with in a direct fashion as they come up, and urged the audience not to measure it by counting the number of high-level meetings or comparing them to U.S. talks with other countries.

Mr. Connuck also said that over the past 18 months the American private sector has been looking with increased intensity at investment opportunities in Ukraine, and noted, "we could be close to a breakthrough." Plans of at least two companies, he said, call for investments that would be higher than the total American investment in Ukraine to date. The ball is in the Ukrainian Parliament's court at this time; it has to pass the legislative package to prepare the ground for foreign investment, he said, adding that if just two investment projects were successful, "they would break the logjam" and other investment would follow. (Trade and investment are one of the areas in the Kuchma-Gore Commission's portfolio.)

While the Ukraine-U.S. partnership has many accomplishments, Mr. Segal noted, great tasks are still ahead. "We need to get to the point where Ukrainian citizens will answer the question, 'Are you better off now than you were four years ago?' with a resounding 'Yes!'

"We are not there yet by a long shot, but we think we are on the right path. With your help, the dedicated effort of the government of Ukraine, and the determination and courage that Ukrainians have shown throughout their illustrious history, I am sure we will succeed."

The phrase "with your help" elicited a question from the floor: "What kind of help?" Mr. Segal characterized it as the "resident power of the community." Turning to Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.S. Yuri Shcherbak, who was in the audience, Mr. Segal noted that both he and the ambassador had tours of duty as diplomats in Israel and saw firsthand how Israel uses the resident power of the American Jews.

This, he explained, means American Ukrainians should encourage local companies to conclude business deals with Ukraine, to encourage members of Congress to travel to Ukraine to learn more about the country first hand, and to understand Ukraine's place in the American foreign policy framework.

There has been a healthy interest in Ukraine among lawmakers, he noted, but there also are many new members in Congress who need to be educated.

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