False start?

It seemed that after the presidential elections in Ukraine the relations between Kyiv and Moscow should have become more pragmatic and brought concrete benefits to both countries. However, nothing of this kind is happening. Both sides are saying abstract things instead. After the first visit to Russia, the only award the new “pro-Russian” President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine received from the Russian leadership for taking victory over his predecessor Viktor Yushchenko was a proposal to join the Customs Union. The Ukrainian leader, who must have played the role of a polite guest, did not insist on fulfilling his own pre-election promise: to reconsider the gas agreements in order to cut the prices for the Russian gas. However, as it became known later, for some reason he brought in an initiative in Moscow that the new pact on reduction and limitation of strategic offensive arms (START) between Russia and the US be signed in Kyiv.

The deputy head of the Presidential Administration Hanna Herman assured at a briefing that Moscow “was interested in the proposal.” “If Americans don’t mind, Ukraine will finally become the bridge between East and West as has always been mentioned by our leader,” Herman noted.

Ukraine’s first president Leonid Kravchuk believes it is a bad idea to use Ukraine as a bridge between East and West. In particular, he said to The Day, “The idea about the bridge has existed since the times of my presidency. At all times Ukraine has been the initiator and wants to be namely the bridge, not a real state with a clear position. If we now are bringing the initiative to become a nonaligned state, this is again explained by the realization of the idea to become a bridge.

“I keep saying that a bridge is a construction, not a land or state. One walks over bridges. If Ukraine, say, is a territory, a bridge on which everyone will walk, it will never become a real state with a real policy, so that we could speak about the completeness of this policy. Instead we will always listen to what the countries on both sides of the bridge will be telling us. They will realize their ideas and strategic interests with the help of our bridge.

“Therefore, I don’t accept this bridge formula. I am for another formula: Ukraine should finally decide on its strategic interests with the European Union, European structures, and adopt in the Verkhovna Rada, as it is stipulated by the Constitution, the foundations for home and foreign policy. And we don’t need any bridge. Today I cannot see any possibility to be a nonaligned country. I don’t know who, except for Russia, will support this refusal to be part of any bloc.”

Yanukovych’s initiative was discussed last week by Ukraine’s and Russia’s foreign ministers at a joint press conference in Moscow. In particular, RF Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated, “We would be glad to sign the START with the US in Kyiv.” At the same time, he noted that the final decision on signing the START will be approved by the RF and US presidents, taking into consideration the possibility to adjust their schedules and agree on the time and place where the ceremony will be held. Lavrov also stated that the new START Treaty reassures the security guarantees for Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.

In his turn, Kostiantyn Hryshchenko noted that Ukraine is interested in drawing attention to this experience and stimulating other countries that have become the subject of discussion at the UN Security Council and other international conferences to look at the real balance of their interests and consider how decisions linked to supporting the non-proliferation principle will meet their interests. “We believe that the fact of signing the agreement in Kyiv could become an important signal for those countries who still remain on the crossroads, and this act would be helpful in strengthening the non-proliferation regime,” the Ukrainian minister emphasized.

Stephen PIFER, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (Washington), who deals with the arms reduction questions, told The Day that there is no need to hurry in this case. “The first priority is that the negotiations concerning the new agreement should be over. After this Washington and Moscow will decide where to sign it. If the agreement is drafted within the next several weeks, of course, Washington will be the place to sign it, because it is expected that President Medvedev will take part in the nuclear non-proliferation summit that will be held in April,” Pifer said.

Ukraine’s first president sees nothing wrong in the initiative to sign the START Treaty in Kyiv. “Then the attention of the international organizations and mass media as well as large TV companies would be focused on Ukraine. Many people would come here. This is like the Olympic Games in politics. But this does not mean that Ukraine will be able to resolve any questions of its own. It is simply that everyone will know us and will be talking about us; they will know our peculiarities and present-day realities. This would be efficient for Ukraine. But there is no way it will give something to Ukraine, in terms of implementation of its policy,” Kravchuk stressed.

t will be recalled that the term of the START-II Agreement that has been in force since 1994, expired on Dec. 5, 2009. In summer 2009, the presidents of the US and Russia signed a framework Agreement on Strategic Arms Reduction, which confirmed the intentions of both countries to sign another treaty.