Kuchma pledges support for United Nations reform (09/28/97)

Kuchma pledges support for United Nations reform

by Khristina Lew

UNITED NATIONS - Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma pledged his country's support for the reform efforts of Secretary-General Kofi Annan in an address to the General Assembly on September 22.

The Ukrainian president arrived in New York on September 21 to attend ceremonies marking the opening of the 52nd session of the General Assembly, whose president, Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Hennadii Udovenko, was elected on September 16.

President Kuchma told delegates to the opening session of the general debate that "Ukraine actively supports the measures aimed at bringing the structure and tasks of the organization in line with new realities."

"The package of proposals of the secretary-general aimed at the wide-scale reorganization of the U.N. structure and its program activities ... constitute, in fact, the first real attempt to overcome the standstill in reforming the organization."

The Ukrainian president congratulated Mr. Udovenko on his election to "the highest political post of the international community," noting that Ukraine interprets international support for Mr. Udovenko's candidacy as "a manifestation of a high level of confidence in Ukraine's foreign policy, its peaceful initiatives, and commitment to the ideas and the objective of reviving and strengthening the U.N."

In his 20-minute speech, President Kuchma proposed that the enlargement of the Security Council, an issue that will be discussed during the 52nd session, be guided by three general principles: all regional groups, including the Eastern European group to which Ukraine belongs, should enlarge their representation in the Security Council; enlargement should not adversely affect the efficiency of the council's work; and the process of enlargement should not be subject to strict time constraints, although a decision on expansion should be reached in the nearest future.

He once again reminded U.N. delegates that the consequences of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant explosion are a global problem "whose solution is simply impossible without large-scale international assistance." President Kuchma reiterated that Ukraine has made a political commitment to decommission the Chornobyl plant by 2000 and has taken measures to fulfill its obligation. "We expect that other countries will also meet their commitments in this regard," he said.

In a private meeting with Secretary-General Annan following his address, President Kuchma said that since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding by the Group of Seven industrial states in 1995, no real efforts to resolve financing of the sarcophagus protecting damaged Chornobyl reactor No. 4 have been made. According to Dmytro Markov, the president's spokesman, Mr. Kuchma urged the secretary-general to support Ukraine's inclusion in future talks related to resolving Chornobyl problems.

For his part, Mr. Annan applauded Ukraine's efforts to establish good-neighborly relations with Romania, Poland and Russia, pointing out that global security will come from regional security. He also thanked the Ukrainian president for supporting his proposals for reforming the United Nations.

Events marking the opening of the 52nd session of the General Assembly included a reception in honor of President Bill Clinton and an official dinner at the U.N. Plaza Hotel on September 21, a luncheon hosted by the secretary-general for heads of states on September 22, and a dinner in honor of President Kuchma hosted by General Assembly President Udovenko at the New York Palace Hotel on September 23.

The opening session also afforded the Ukrainian president an opportunity to hold bilateral talks with leaders of the United States, India, Pakistan and Andorra.

On September 21 President Kuchma, Minister Udovenko and Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.S. Yuri Shcherbak met privately with President Clinton to discuss U.S. quota limits and duties on Ukrainian steel. As of September 24, the two sides were still negotiating.

The meeting also focused on Ukraine's increasingly poor relationship with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. President Clinton promised to intervene in resolving Ukraine's relations with the international financial institutions.

President Kuchma's September 22 meeting with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel did not fare as well. According to Mr. Markov, the two sides did not agree on the pace of Ukraine's economic reform. "The president," said Mr. Markov, "views the pace of reform as a normal process in rebuilding a state. All countries go through this. The president categorically did not agree that economic reform is moving slowly in Ukraine." Ms. Albright would not comment on the hourlong meeting.

President Kuchma told the secretary of state that Ukraine is in the process of privatizing large-scale enterprises, and complained that Daewoo of South Korea is the only foreign company to invest substantial capital. According to Mr. Markov, the Ukrainian president insists that in order for large-scale privatization to be successful, it must be transparent and based on cash investment, not on a fictitious hand-over of state property.

The Ukrainian president also told Secretary Albright that Ukraine has not received any money from the IMF.

Mr. Markov said Secretary Albright told President Kuchma that the U.S. views Ukraine as an important partner. The issue of corruption was not raised during the meeting, he said.

President Kuchma invited Ms. Albright to visit Ukraine to observe first hand how the country is reforming its economy and evolving politically. Both sides agreed to continue consultations.

President Kuchma, accompanied by Ambassador Anatolii Zlenko, Ukraine's permanent representative to the United Nations, also met with Indian Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral in the halls of the United Nations on September 22. Mr. Markov characterized the meeting as "a warm exchange of ideas."

Both leaders agreed to visit each other's country in an effort to bolster the weakened Ukrainian-Indian bilateral relationship. During Soviet times, India was a strong economic partner of the Soviet Union, particularly with Ukraine. A Ukrainian-Indian commission was created to facilitate the visits of both leaders.

During a U.N. meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the two sides discussed diversifying cooperation in the military-technical sphere. Prime Minister Sharif indicated Pakistan's interest in establishing Pakistani-Ukrainian joint ventures. President Kuchma said the doors to cooperation between the two countries are opened in all spheres and accepted the prime minister's invitation to visit Pakistan.

President Kuchma extended an invitation to Andorran Prime Minister Marc Forné Molné to visit Ukraine during their September 22 meeting on expanding trade and economic relations. Andorra, a mountainous country located between Spain and France, recently hosted 25 Ukrainian children suffering from the aftereffects of Chornobyl, and in the future plans to invite additional children and their families for a visit.

Kuchma honors Americans

On September 23 Mr. Kuchma awarded former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger the state medal of Ukraine in a ceremony at Ukraine's Mission to the United Nations "for being one of the first to recognize the importance of Ukraine." Mr. Kissinger noted that "it is not too much to say that problems in Europe began when Ukraine lost its independence," and emphasized that the "key to European security is that Ukraine maintains its independence."

The former secretary of state personally congratulated President Kuchma for his efforts to bring Ukraine into the international arena. "I admire what you're doing for reform, for strengthening the state, and for establishing the firm position of Ukraine in the community of nations," he said.

Prior to departing for a two-day visit to Mexico on September 24, President Kuchma presented presidential medals to the Ukrainian Americans he had honored "for strengthening the Ukrainian state" during Independence Day celebrations this year in Kyiv: Ulana Diachuk, president of the Ukrainian American Coordinating Council; Askold Lozynskyj, president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America; Eugene Stachiw, vice-president of the UACC; and Julian and Maria Bachynsky, benefactors of orphanages in Ukraine.

The ceremony was hosted by Consul General Victor Kryzhanivsky at Ukraine's Consulate General in New York.

During his September 21-24 visit to New York President Kuchma also met with American business leaders at a dinner sponsored by Credit Suisse First Boston and visited the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

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