New relationship is hallmark of Putin's visit to Ukraine (03/27/05)

New relationship is hallmark of Putin's visit to Ukraine

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Ukraine for the first time since the Orange Revolution, beginning an unprecedented relationship in which his country will deal with a Ukrainian leadership that has made it clear it will determine its future independent of Russian interests.

Both Mr. Putin and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko used the March 20 work visit to advance their priorities. For Mr. Putin, that meant figuring out whether Mr. Yushchenko will support the Single Economic Space (SES) of former Soviet republics that he has yet to endorse.

Meanwhile, Mr. Yushchenko stressed the need to settle any remaining border disputes, a matter that Mr. Putin preferred to put on his back burner.

Transporting Russian gas and expanding its consumer base in Western Europe were points of consensus for the two leaders.

Mr. Putin set the tone for the Kyiv visit at a morning press conference, after concluding meetings with European leaders in Paris. He reassured the group, which included German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, that Russia would be respectful of the new political landscape.

"We will do all that we can to support the Ukrainian leadership and use all our influence to avert any political crisis in this nation," Mr. Putin said.

Arriving in Kyiv at 1 p.m., Mr. Putin was immediately whisked to one of the presidential residences, the famous "Budynok z Khymeramy" (Building with Chimeras), which architect Vladyslav Horodetskyi decorated with elaborate sculptural reliefs.

Their discussions and press conference were conducted in Russian "for convenience," Mr. Yushchenko said.

Among the tangible results from two hours of discussion was the creation of the Putin-Yushchenko Committee consisting of four subcommittees: defense industry, foreign policy, economics and humanitarian affairs.

It will replace former President Leonid Kuchma's Russian-Ukrainian Intergov-ernmental Commission for Cooperation, Mr. Yushchenko said.

Both leaders announced their goal to create a Russia-Ukraine gas-transit consortium that would include Germany, and possibly France and Italy further down the road.

The project stalled because of past political problems in Ukraine, Mr. Putin said. "We wait and we can wait, but now is the time to go forward," he said.

Germany is Russia's priority, Mr. Putin said, because it is the largest consumer of Russian gas and obtains its primary supplies through Ukraine's gas-transit system.

"For us, it's important that it works and functions," Mr. Putin said. "We must be sure that the transport of Russian gas to our Western partners in Europe will work like clockwork."

To kick the consortium into gear, Mr. Yushchenko said he will dispatch Ukraine's Energy Minister Ivan Plachkov and Naftohaz Chairman Oleksii Ivchenko to Moscow in the next week or two.

The two leaders have reached the understanding that the gas-transit system will remain in Ukraine's ownership, Mr. Yushchenko said, and the discussions will examine initiatives to expand opportunities.

During their discussions, Mr. Yushchenko proposed to make 2005 the year Russia and Ukraine definitively delineate their borders, particularly those of the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait that were the source of controversy in the past.

The Ukrainian president suggested the two nations recognize those boundaries that had existed between Russia and Ukraine under Soviet times.

In response, Mr. Putin said the matter would have to be resolved by experts.

Russia's lack of urgency in delineating borders with Ukraine was ever apparent in Mr. Putin's emphasis on creating the SES, which includes Belarus and Kazakstan.

Mr. Yushchenko indicated during his January visit to Moscow that he is not against the SES, as long as it is in Ukraine's interest and does not interfere with Ukraine's attempts to gain entry into the European Union, which is his administration's main priority.

During the visit, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko echoed that position, but also stressed that it's necessary for both nations to open all possibilities for free trade. Ukraine would like to engage in as many joint economic projects with Russia as possible, she said, including aircraft, aerospace, gas and oil.

Mr. Putin's visit afforded him the opportunity to finally acquaint himself with Ms. Tymoshenko, who currently stands accused of bribing Russian defense officials and is under an international arrest warrant issued by the Russian government.

In discussing the SES, Mr. Putin reminded Ms. Tymoshenko that it was not Russia's initiative, implying that Mr. Kuchma was behind its genesis.

"Does that mean you're backing out?," Ms. Tymoshenko retorted, according to the Ukrainska Pravda website.

"No, we're not backing out," Mr. Putin said with a laugh.

"Well, that's what's important," she said.

Mr. Yushchenko announced that he had assigned his Minister of the Economy Serhii Teriokhin to direct Ukraine's SES efforts.

When hearing Mr. Teriokhin's name during their press conference, Mr. Putin remarked that the two nations' economic ministers had surnames from the opposite culture. "Look - from Ukraine, Serhii Teriokhin, and from Russia - a person with the pleasant-sounding surname Khrystenko."

During the evening, Mr. Yushchenko and his wife, Kateryna, hosted Mr. Putin at his Novi Bezradychi dacha.

There, Mr. Yushchenko showed the Russian president his vast collection of Ukrainian folk costumes, Trypillian artifacts and antique icons.

Addressing a jam-packed press conference toward the end of the Russian president's visit, President Yushchenko said he was satisfied with its outcome, particularly its frankness, spirit and pragmatism.

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