NSDC recommends that Ukraine send troops to Iraq (06/01/03)

NSDC recommends that Ukraine send troops to Iraq

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) unanimously recommended on May 27 that Ukraine send troops as part of the United States-led stabilization force in Iraq.

Kyiv has proposed a force of between 1,600 and 1,700 troops, which will include two mechanized divisions. However, deployment will not take place until President Leonid Kuchma issues an executive order and the country's Parliament ratifies the decision.

Ukraine was one of 10 countries that received an invitation from Washington to take part in a stabilization force it was organizing in Iraq to reduce its own presence and bring a larger coalition into the rebuilding process in the wake of the war that toppled longtime Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein from power.

While Kyiv had not refused the initial request, it said that it could not take further steps until an authoritative international body lifted sanctions against Iraq and gave permission for an international coalition to be stationed in the country.

President Kuchma, speaking during the NSDC meeting, said the U.N. resolution passed on May 15 was what Ukraine had waited for.

"This resolution gives legitimacy to the coalition forces and safeguards the stability and security of Iraq, as well as identifies the U.N. role in the post-war rebuilding of the country," noted Mr. Kuchma.

Room for debate remains, however, on whether the Verkhovna Rada will approve a Ukrainian military deployment to Iraq. NSDC Secretary Yevhen Marchuk indicated he believed the Parliament would ratify it "after sharp and tumultuous debate."

Likewise, Verkhovna Rada Vice-Chairman Oleksander Zinchenko said he believed that getting approval for participation of Ukrainian peacekeepers in the rebuilding of Iraq would be far easier than it was to get parliamentary approval for the deployment of the Ukrainian anti-nuclear -biological and -chemical warfare (NBC) battalion to Kuwait at the beginning of the Iraqi conflict.

Mr. Zinchenko explained that the national deputies understood that Ukraine could benefit in very concrete terms as a result of its participation, by qualifying to bid on reconstruction projects as a result of its cooperation. He also underscored that this was a peacekeeping effort and not participation in a coalition for war, which was what many lawmakers had considered the battalion's deployment to Kuwait.

However, Communist Party Chairman Petro Symonenko told Interfax-Ukraine on May 29 that Ukraine should not bend to U.S. demands and allow its troops to be part of the stabilization force.

"The masters of the world have let our country understand that its will must be carried out not only economically and financially, but politically as well," said Mr. Symonenko.

The Ukrainian peacekeepers will work in one of three zones into which the United States has divided Iraq under a force directed by Poland; roughly the zone encompasses the area between Basra and Baghdad. U.S. and British forces will retain control over the other two sectors.

The Ukrainian contingent will have responsibility for safeguarding the territorial integrity of Iraq; protecting local governing bodies and supporting their development; protecting of government buildings, factories, plants and oil refining facilities; and, finally, maintaining order and the separation of conflicting sides, should violence break out within or among the various ethnic and religious groupings.

Mr. Marchuk said the duration of the Ukrainian force's stay will depend on international agreement or a decision by the interim Iraqi authority, but would be a minimum of six months.

The head of the NDSC noted that Ukraine would absorb the costs of transporting and maintaining its contingent in Iraq, but was expecting that either the United States or Great Britain would provide compensation for the expenses to be incurred. He added that, in any case, Ukraine would benefit far more if its trade relations with Iraq, which at one time were $300 million to $350 million annually, returned to the earlier level.

Mr. Marchuk also said negotiations were being held on whether the NBC battalion still stationed in Kuwait could be transferred to Iraq.

The Verkhovna Rada is scheduled to consider ratification of the deployment of the Iraq stabilization force on June 5.

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