Ten years ago, on December 19, 2008, the United States-Ukraine Charter on Strategic Partnership was signed in Washington by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko.
The charter affirmed the bilateral relationship across a broad spectrum of mutual priorities, “expanding democracy and economic freedom, protecting security and territorial integrity, strengthening rule of law and supporting innovation and technological advances.”
The charter’s preamble confirmed the importance of the security assurances described in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum that was signed by Ukraine, Russia and the U.S., and the U.S-Ukraine Cooperation Agreement (Road Map) that was signed on March 31, 2008, and commitments to a strategic partnership made by Presidents George W. Bush and Viktor Yushchenko on April 4, 2005.
In “Section 1: Principles of Cooperation” the charter is based on core principles: support for each other’s sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders; the shared belief that democracy is the chief guarantor of security, prosperity and freedom; defense and security cooperation as essential to effectively respond to threats to peace and security; and “a strong, independent and democratic Ukraine, capable of responsible self-defense, contributes to the security and prosperity not only of all the people of Ukraine, but of a Europe whole, free and at peace.”
The charter noted the Joint Statement of the NATO-Ukraine Commission from the 2008 Bucharest Summit, which affirmed that Ukraine would become a member of NATO. Within this framework, the U.S. looked forward to increased cooperation on mutual security and defense threats, including enhanced training and equipment for Ukrainian armed forces.
Other areas of cooperation focused on economic issues, trade and energy, strengthening democracy, as well as increasing people-to-people and cultural exchanges.
The final section of the charter pledged that the two “countries will continue to cooperate closely to promote remembrance and increased public awareness of the 1932-1933 Great Famine (Holodomor) in Ukraine. Ukraine welcomes the United States’ intention to establish an American diplomatic presence (American Presence Post) in Symferopol [Crimea].”
Source: “For the Record: United States-Ukraine Charter on Strategic Partnership,” The Ukrainian Weekly, December 28, 2008.