Demonstrating a pragmatic approach

The first visit of Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych to the USA proved to be quite productive. On the eve of the nuclear safety summit, he had already fulfilled virtually all the things he had set out to do: meet with the American leader Barack Obama and speak with him for half an hour instead of the scheduled 10 minutes, hold talks with the International Monetary Fund, meet with American businessmen, and also speak about his new “nuclear” initiative.

After talks with the US president, the Ukrainian leader declared that Ukraine would give up almost 90 kg of enriched uranium – enough to create nuclear weapons. “This is what the US has been striving to accomplish for more than 10 years,” said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. According to him, it concerns highly enriched uranium stored at Ukrainian research centers. Experts believe that this amount is enough for the creation of several nuclear warheads.

US leadership lauded Ukraine’s epoch-making decision to get rid of its stock of highly-enriched uranium before the next nuclear safety summit and promised to render the necessary technical and financial aid to back these efforts.

“President Obama praised Ukraine’s decision as a historic step and a reaffirmation of Ukraine’s leadership in nuclear security and nonproliferation,” says a joint statement by the American and Ukrainian presidents. Besides, Obama reaffirmed that the security assurances recorded in the Budapest Memorandum with Ukraine of December 5, 1994, would remain in effect.

Both presidents agreed to continue their joint support for the international effort to convert civil nuclear research facilities to operate with low enriched uranium fuel. Besides, the American administration reaffirmed its intention to continue supporting Ukraine’s efforts to safeguard the Tchornobyl nuclear reactor site.

The Ukrainian president’s talks with the International Monetary Fund were perhaps the most important part of the program. “We have met (with the IMF leadership), discussed the possible cooperation programs, and I think we have reached an understanding, though it is not an easy thing to do.” This was how Yanukovych himself described the talks. At the same time, he expressed a hope to continue “the constructive dialog.”

At a business lunch with the representatives of American business circles, Yanukovych assured the American business owners that Ukraine had been and would continue creating all conditions for attracting investments. According to the president, Ukraine has a number of “promising” objects, which can be privatized as early as this year. “In particular, these include Ukrtelekom, Luhanskteplovoz, and thermal power plants,” emphasized Yanukovych.

In making this statement he remarked that new approaches would be used in the course of privatization, and the whole procedure would be “absolutely transparent.” Addressing American business representatives, Yanukovych informed them that Ukraine was interested in the implementation of infrastructure-based investment projects.

“For its part, Ukraine is prepared to invest available assets in energy saving projects, and the development of transport and infrastructure,” said the president. He also revealed his plans to create, in the near future, a state agency for attracting investments to Ukraine.

On the whole it looks as if the Ukrainian president were satisfied with his visit to the USA. According to him, Washington is engaging Ukraine “in numerous directions of cooperation.” The Ukrainian leader emphasized that his country was optimistic about the development of the Ukraine-USA economic cooperation. He went on to say that the US had an understanding of the necessity for Ukraine to renew its relations with Russia on the strategic level. At the same time he remarked that the American leadership was quite understanding about Ukraine’s integration in the EU.