Putin visits Ukraine; convenes first Yushchenko-Putin Commission meeting

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin and his delegation reached agreements with their Ukrainian counterparts on trade and migrant readmission during a one-day trip to Kyiv on December 22.

During the visit, which was Mr. Putin's third during Viktor Yushchenko's presidency, the two leaders also convened the first meeting of the Yushchenko-Putin Commission, in which delegations of both countries will meet biannually.

Only minor agreements were reached, and Mr. Yushchenko indicated that far more challenging issues lie ahead with the Russian Federation, particularly on border demarcation and the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

"We are working from the point that many issues require time ... trust, desire and political will," Mr. Yushchenko said. "Politicization surrounds many, which interferes with removing them from the day's schedule."

Russian and Ukrainian leaders signed four agreements, most significantly on readmission, which would allow Ukraine to immediately return captured illegal Asian migrants to the Russian Federation and avoid related detention costs, said Valeriy Chaly, the deputy general director of the Razumkov Center for Economic and Political Studies in Kyiv.

Another agreement revised border admission protocols in order to protect trade across the Russian-Ukrainian border, in anticipation of stricter border demarcations possibly next year, Mr. Chaly said.

A third agreement involved defining, regulating and simplifying issues of intellectual property rights in joint military airplane engineering projects, he said.

The two leaders also discussed matters related to space, aviation, energy, natural gas and electric supply, without offering details at a press conference in which they only took two questions.

A Kyiv-based reporter for the Moscow-based Interfax news wire asked whether the recent death of Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov would affect the natural gas market and whether the Russian Federation was able to provide Ukraine with additional natural gas supplies if necessary.

Mr. Putin said Russia has long-term contracts with Turkmenistan to provide natural gas to Ukraine that won't change.

The Russian Federation can provide Ukraine with additional natural gas supplies, the Russian president said.

A Russian reporter posed the second question, asking whether any "emotional problems" obstructed cooperation during the meeting.

"Everything was pragmatic and in a friendly, business atmosphere," Mr. Putin said. "The only issue is finding compromise where it wasn't reached. But we felt after today's discussions a desire to find these compromises. In this sense, we are quite satisfied."

Such unresolved problems will be addressed next year during meetings of the Yushchenko-Putin Commission, the Ukrainian president said.

The commission's strategic format was confirmed during the visit, and Mr. Yushchenko said it will consist of a working group to resolve conflicts between the two countries.

So far, about 22 subject matters need resolution, Mr. Yushchenko said, a list that will be expanded during the next several weeks and eventually discussed with Mr. Putin.

Next year, the main issues between the Russian Federation and Ukraine will involve delimiting and demarcating the 979-mile border between the two countries, and resolving remaining issues related to the Kerch Strait.

A road map of measures to address these complicated situations will be drafted by the end of February, Mr. Yushchenko said.

Problems related to the Russian Black Sea Fleet also need resolution, including land ownership and navigation.

Mr. Yushchenko and pro-Western politicians would like to see the Black Sea Fleet leave the Crimean Peninsula by 2017. Mr. Putin said he'd like a compromise.

"We want the fleet to have the possibility to function fully in being a factor in improving safety in the region and Russian-Ukrainian partnership," Mr. Putin said.

The two leaders will also seek to resolve the volatile Transdniester situation, they said.

Transdniester is a region of Moldova that has repeatedly voted for independence, which the international community doesn't recognize.

By actively supporting Transdniester's secessionist aspirations, the Russian Federation has waged a foreign policy of deliberately inflaming internal conflict within Moldova and destabilizing the Ukrainian-Moldovan border.

Plans of action for the next two years are currently being drafted, Mr. Yushchenko said, indicating he will be traveling to Moscow in late May or early June for the next meeting with Mr. Putin.

The two leaders stressed the need for closer Russian-Ukrainian cooperation, particularly in providing fuel and energy supplies to their respective countries, as well as to Europe.

In sharp contrast to his policies, Mr. Putin called for the two nations help build "a united Europe without dividing lines."

"It's important that we set firmly on the market economy track our cooperation in the fuel and energy spheres," Mr. Putin said. "Our energy sectors are reaching final agreements. Only in doing that can we ensure the energy security of our two countries and also Europe."

During the meeting, Ukrainian Minister of Culture and Tourism Yurii Bohutskyi and Russian Minister of Culture and Mass Communication Mikhail Shvydkoy signed an agreement to cooperate in cultural activity, particularly music, theater, folk art, circus art and cinematography.

The two leaders agreed to coordinate cultural events in 2009 honoring the 200-year anniversary of the birth of Mykola Hohol (Nikolai Gogol), who was born in a village of Poltava Oblast.

In his opening remarks to the commission, Mr. Putin also suggested commemorating the 300-year anniversary of the historic Battle of Poltava, in which Russian Czar Peter the Great's army defeated the united forces of Ukrainian Hetman Ivan Mazepa and King Charles XII of Sweden. The battle marked the rise of the Russian Empire and the decline of Ukraine's hetmanate.

It was unclear whether Mr. Putin was joking or serious.

After meeting with Mr. Yushchenko, Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych escorted Mr. Putin to Boryspil airport in the Russian president's Mercedes, according to news reports.

When asked what they discussed at a December 27 press conference, Mr. Yanukovych said he discussed the Yushchenko-Putin Commission programs with Mr. Putin, particularly natural gas and oil transit.

They also discussed providing Ukraine with adequate energy supplies to ensure its stability, the prime minister said.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, December 31, 2006, No. 53, Vol. LXXIV

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