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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Cautious Hope Better Than None

24 November, 1998 - 00:00


The visit of Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs Borys Tarasiuk to
Moscow was first of all a routine getting acquainted with the new Russia
after Yevgeny Primakov became Premier. Boris Yeltsin granted him many presidential
functions. Igor Ivanov, not without reason considered a tough guy, was
appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. According to Tarasiuk, the visit
was a success; the issue of diplomatic representative offices in Kyiv and
Moscow was solved. The Ukrainian said also there was "cautious hope" for
the Duma's ratification of the Grand Treaty by the end of the year.

During Tarasiuk's visit it became apparent that Moscow and Kyiv still
have different, if not opposing, views on reforming the CIS. "Cautious
hope" for ratification of the Grand Treaty depends greatly on whether the
Kremlin will manage to convince the Duma that Ukraine is an independent
country. In its turn, Russia often reminds Ukraine, that Verkhovna Rada
should have ratified the zero option agreement, without saying anything
about what in the document Kyiv turned down.

Now agreement has been achieved in Moscow about the visits of a parliamentary
delegation chaired by Oleksandr Tkachenko and a Foreign Ministry delegation
chaired by First Deputy Minister Oleksandr Chaly. The delegations will
address specific problems like the Russian Black Sea Fleet paying for water,
natural gas, and energy. It was agreed to "continue consultations" in the
delimitation of the Sea of Azov, Kerch Straits, and continental shelf;
until recently Russia categorically refused to discuss any delimitation
at all. Finally, Leonid Kuchma declared this sea the joint property of
the both countries.

Anyway, "cautious hope"  is much better than nothing.

Comment

Anatoly HUTSAL, Deputy Director of the Ukrainian-Russian Relations
Institute under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine:

"I view this visit as scouting out the foreign policy opportunities,
because the process is more fruitful in the economic sphere. The visit
to Russia under new conditions shows that there is a will to meet and discuss
the problems. Both Selezniov and Duma have been long promising to ratify
the Grand Treaty, and they are still promising.

I am glad that this time there were no unfriendly responses in the Russian
press, where all the problems could have been blamed on Ukraine.

In general, Russia is reconsidering its policy. And Ukraine's place
in it will depend solely on how we behave. If, for example, we fence ourselves
off, others will take our place."

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