RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP IN RUINS

Published: 25 October 2003 y., Saturday
The Ukrainian-Russian "strategic partnership" -- which was devoid of real content during Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma's first term in office and under Russian President Boris Yeltsin -- was beginning to be finally filled with some substance during Kuchma's second term and under Russian President Vladimir Putin. As the Kuchmagate crisis unfolded after November 2000 and the reformist government of Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko was removed in April 2001, Ukraine's multivector foreign policy reoriented toward Russia and the CIS. For Moscow, the crowning achievements of this reorientation came this year. 2002 was designated "the Year of Russia in Ukraine," and in January 2003 Kuchma became the first non-Russian CIS leader to be elected head of the CIS Council of Heads of State. On 17 September, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus signed the CIS Single Economic Space (EEP), only 12 days prior to the beginning of the territorial conflict over Tuzla. Ukraine's reorientation toward Russia and the CIS seemed set to continue. Kuchma desperately needs Putin's support in the October 2004 presidential election in order to ensure a suitable successor -- if indeed a suitable one can be found -- is elected. One way to achieve this was to again play the Russian card in eastern Ukraine, a tactic Kuchma successfully used in the 1994 presidential election. This can now be ruled out. Pro-Kuchma Crimean Prime Minister Serhiy Kunitsyn lamented this week that "I don't know whose idea it was to build the dam, but I do know that it is ruining everything achieved during the Year of Russia in Ukraine." As the crisis escalated, calls from within Ukraine's elites to speed up steps to join NATO, an objective first outlined in a presidential decree in July 2002, became more frequent. Our Ukraine Deputy Yuriy Yekhanurov, head of the Verkhovna Rada's Industrial Policy and Enterprise Committee, told parliament on 22 October that Ukraine should rebuild a small nuclear deterrent as the only way to deter similar threats to Ukraine's territorial integrity. In a secret presidential decree dated 21 October, Kuchma outlined steps to be taken to defend Ukraine's territorial integrity. Those steps included Ukraine quitting the recently agreed EEP if Russia attempts to encroach on its territory. Other nonmilitary steps include appealing to the declared nuclear powers, who provided "security assurances" in return for Ukraine's nuclear disarmament in 1994-96, the UN Security Council, NATO, and the OSCE. A further step outlined in the decree was for the Foreign Ministry unilaterally to declare the Kerch Strait and the Azov Sea internal Ukrainian waters.
Šaltinis: rferl.org
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

The most popular articles

Adamkus congratulates Governor-General of Australia on national holiday

President of the Republic of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus sent congratulations to the Governor-General of Australia, Ms Quentin Bryce, on the national holiday, the Australia Day. more »

Energy projects and stabilization of financial systems on the agenda of counterparts’ meeting in Riga

Andrius Kubilius has briefed his counterpart on the financial stability plan developed by the Lithuanian Government as well as economic policy measures for business recovery and continuity. more »

President Congratulated the Leader of India on National Holiday

President Valdas Adamkus extended congratulations to President Pratibha Devisingh Patil of India on the occasion of Republic Day. more »

President Extends Consolences to the Families of Victims at the Creche in Dendermonde

President Valdas Adamkus sent a message of condolences to King Albert II of Belgium on the tragedy that happened at the creche in Dendermonde. more »

"Leaders of small and medium businesses will become a strong driving force for competition in the domestic and foreign markets," says the President

President of the Republic of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus took part in the Gazelle 2008 award ceremony organised by the daily “Verslo žinios” (Business News). more »

President signs the Law on the Establishment of the Ministry of Energy

Today the President of the Republic of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus signed the Law on the Establishment of the Ministry of Energy. more »

The Government to launch business recovery plan

Today, in his meeting with Minister of Economy Dainius Kreivys, Minister of Finance Algirdas Šemeta and other ministerial officials, Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius has discussed business continuity framework. more »

President and Lithuania’s Ambassador to Belarus discussed economic and social processes in Belarus

The topic discussed in the meeting concerned economic and social processes in Belarus and opportunities for bilateral business and cultural relations. more »

Lithuanian and Swedish Foreign Ministers Highlight the Significance of Energy Links for the Energy Security in the Region

Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden Carl Bildt discussed region’s energy security and other important issues of international policy. more »

President Adamkus believes Lithuania and China should strengthen their economic cooperation

President of the Republic of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus received letters of credence from the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China, Mr. Tong Mingtao. more »