Tymoshenko cancels visit to Moscow, demands Russian respect for Ukraine (04/24/05)

Tymoshenko cancels visit to Moscow, demands Russian respect for Ukraine

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - In a demand for respect from the Russian Federation, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko abruptly canceled her first visit to Moscow the day after Russia's top prosecutor said criminal charges were still pending against her.

Russian Procurator General Vladimir Ustinov said on April 12 that Ms. Tymoshenko could visit the Russian Federation without arrest because of immunity provided by state leaders, but that she remains "on the wanted list."

The remark angered Prime Minister Tymoshenko, who immediately stated her official reason for canceling the trip as needing to prepare for Ukraine's spring field work. Days later, however, she revealed her indignation with Mr. Ustinov in an April 15 interview with British Broadcasting Corp (BBC).

"I want to believe the statement is just the stupidity of one bureaucrat and that it is not the national politics of Russia," Ms. Tymoshenko said. "If that is the case, then that bureaucrat must correct his stupidity."

She also used the cancellation as an opportunity to demand new relations between Russian and Ukrainian government authorities, criticizing Russian leaders for their attitude toward their counterparts to the west.

"I know the Russian political elite has gotten used to Ukraine suffering from an inferiority complex, but I want this to disappear from our relationship," she said.

Ukraine's prime minister was scheduled to visit Moscow on April 15 and 16.

The Russia Procurator General's Office alleges that Ms. Tymoshenko bribed Russian defense officials while in charge of United Energy Systems of Ukraine, the nation's main gas distribution company at the time. Russian authorities also accuse her of forgery and gas smuggling, according to her website.

Ms. Tymoshenko has maintained the charges are part of a concerted effort by Russian authorities intended to destroy her political career.

Russian authorities could not have arrested Ms. Tymoshenko because the Vienna Convention of 1961 provides diplomatic immunity to high-ranking government officials on foreign visits, said Kirill Kulikov, acting chief of the Ukrainian Interpol bureau.

As a result of her immunity status, Interpol suspended its international search for Ms. Tymoshenko, Timur Lakhonin, Interpol's Russia Central Bureau chief, told Interfax on April 14. "This is not the first decision of Interpol to suspend the search for a person enjoying immunity," Mr. Lakhonin said.

Ms. Tymoshenko's announcement, which was first reported as a postponement, came as a result of a convoluted note sent to the Russian Federation's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and made public by Vsevolod Shmatkov, an advisor-envoy of the Russian Embassy in Ukraine.

"Due to spring field work and the necessity of resolving tasks in order to eliminate complications arising at their implementation, the Ukrainian side is forced to postpone Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's visit to the Russian Federation," Mr. Shmatkov quoted.

Within an hour of notification, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attempted damage control by telling journalists that there are no obstacles to Ms. Tymoshenko's visit. By then, it was too late.

Hours later, the Cabinet of Ministers press office issued a second statement, attributing Prime Minister Tymoshenko's cancellation to a presidential order requiring those Cabinet Ministers directly involved with preparing the nation for "spring field work," or the agricultural sowing season, to refrain from embarking on any business trips.

President Viktor Yushchenko's press secretary, Iryna Heraschenko, confirmed this in a statement on the presidential website, adding that the goal of keeping ministers from traveling abroad was to concentrate on stabilizing the economy.

In the BBC interview three days later, Ms. Tymoshenko said it's time that Russia accepted Ukraine as its equal partner - not like a "younger brother" - and treat the nation and its politicians with respect.

Certain Russian actors fought against her and her allies at the request of former President Leonid Kuchma, Ms. Tymoshenko said, and made her a prime target for political destruction.

"Now, in the post-election period, it's likely very hard for them to drop old tactics which they used to destroy politicians in other nations," she said.

Ms. Tymoshenko said she hopes that Ukraine and Russia will together get through this "painful period of transition."

She said she believes Russian President Vladimir Putin, along with his prime minister and those Russian intellectuals who can objectively examine Russian-Ukrainian relations, will quit employing the political technology schemes that were employed in the 2004 presidential elections.

"I know there was a wonderful and warm meeting between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, and my meeting with Mr. Putin was wonderful, constructive and very well-meaning," Ms. Tymoshenko said.

"And I believe that at the highest levels of both nations are very honest intentions to build equal standing, partnerly, long-lasting and very hopeful relations," she added.

Ms. Tymoshenko's colleagues immediately supported her decision. Serhii Teriokhin, Ukraine's minister of the economy, said Russian officials should think before speaking. "It was going to be the first visit - a milestone event," Mr. Teriokhin said. "Something is always off with the procurator generals in Russia."

Ms. Tymoshenko was planning to discuss the Single Economic Space and other important matters, Mr. Teriokhin noted.

Although Ukrainian officials had been preparing hard for the visit, "we as an independent nation will find the possibility to defend the dignity and authority of Ukraine, and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko," said Anatolii Kinakh, Ukraine's first vice prime minister.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Secretary Petro Poroshenko will lead a delegation visiting Moscow on April 21, according to his official website.

Mr. Poroshenko will discuss creating the Yushchenko-Putin Commission that was announced during the Russian president's visit to Kyiv in March. During the visit, Presidents Putin and Yushchenko agreed to have their nations' defense council leaders lead the commission.

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