Carlos PASCUAL: We Hope There Will Be No Evidence Found Of the Kolchuha Transfers to Iraq
“Will UN inspectors, going to Iraq to search for weapons of mass destruction, investigate the transfer of the Ukrainian Kolchuhas to this country?”
“As I understand the situation, Ukraine sent a request to the UN committee responsible for addressing sanctions against Iraq to investigate whether the fact of transferring Kolchuhas to Iraq has actually taken place. There are a number of issues that this committee will have to take into account, including whether there are relevant authorities and whether new authorities will have to be granted. For example, at this point inspectors only have the authority to search weapons of mass destruction, and the Kolchuha systems do not belong to such weapons. There are also concerns by UN weapons experts that the Kolchuha is a mobile system on tracks, and there is a limited number of inspectors, and they don’t want to find themselves in a situation when the majority of experts would be chasing tracks all over the country...”
“Will the United States change their policy towards Ukraine regardless of whether or not any evidence of the Kolchuhas transfer are received?”
“First of all, we hope that no such transfers did take place. We have no desire to discover that this equipment was transported to Iraq. The revising of our policy was stimulated by the recording of the conversation between President Kuchma and Mr. Malev where Pres. Kuchma approved this transfer. That obviously remains our concern because this is an extraordinary circumstance when head of state approves a transfer of military equipment to Iraq in violation of UN sanctions, even if the transfer did not occur. A verbal approval is not a violation of the law, and we have not suggested that it is. We had not sought to initiate any kind of international legal proceedings against Ukraine, because there is no basis for it. It’s inevitable that we have to take into account our knowledge of this recording. Ukraine’s cooperation could be helpful in creating a more constructive atmosphere in our relations.”
“Does this mean that the Ukrainian president has no chance for rehabilitation before the American authorities?”
“The State Department’s spokesman Richard Baucher said that rehabilitation is a transcendental concept. We are not engaged in transcendental subjects. The key focus now is on obtaining information that can affect the lives of the American and British pilots.”
“What questions did Ms. Jones put to Ukraine?”
“We indicated a timeframe within which we hope the Ukrainian side could respond to our questions, and we were ascertained that this response would come even faster than we expect. We will have several meetings in the coming days to discuss the information, materials, and sites our experts team will have access to. This is crucial for the effectiveness of their work. I’d rather not get into examples of the questions. These are the things that work more effectively in confidential environment.”
“Will all questions regarding Ukraine and Iraq cease if Leonid Kuchma resigns?”
“There are two separate issues regarding Iraq, one is the recording and the other whether there was a transfer. The latter concerns us regardless of who is in power in Ukraine. This issue has real security implications, as I said, for American and British pilots. The question of the recording is not a legal issue. It’s a question of the perception of relationships between leaders and their perception of whether they share values. Transparency and cooperation can only be helpful in creating a more constructive climate. What happens in Ukraine’s domestic politics and with its leadership is an issue for Ukrainians to decide.”
“You said that the fact of transferring or not transferring the Kolchuhas is important “regardless of who is in power in Ukraine.” Does this mean that Ukraine might face sanctions under any leadership?”
“My honest answer is, I don’t know. My answer to the question, if the issue of the Kolchuhas transfers is still important to us, is yes, it is.”
