Robertson Points to Progress In Relations With Kyiv

NATO Secretary General George Robertson has remarked on the progress in relations between Ukraine and the alliance. He believes the Ukraine-NATO commission session slated for July 9 in Kyiv “will give momentum” to this cooperation. Lord Robertson made a statement to this effect in Brussels during the visit of the delegation of the Ukraine-NATO cooperation coordinators headed by Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Secretary Yevhen Marchuk. Interfax-Ukraine learned from the Foreign Ministry press service on April 16 that the visit came on April 15-16 as part of the program of information and familiarization visits for the implementation of the Ukraine-NATO Charter in 2002. Mr. Robertson confirmed his intent to take part in the Ukraine-NATO commission session to mark the fifth anniversary since the adoption of the Special Partnership Charter by Ukraine and the alliance. The Ukrainian delegation visited NATO headquarters and the headquarters of the commander-in-chief of the allied European NATO forces. Chiefs of the information and press office, the alliance political directorate, and the directorate for defense partnership and cooperation addressed the Ukrainian delegation at NATO headquarters. The Ukrainian delegates in turn informed top alliance officers of the situation in Ukraine in the wake of parliamentary elections. On March 16, Yevhen Marchuk and Foreign Ministry State Secretary for International Cooperation Viktor Bannykh discussed the issues of military cooperation with NATO European allied forces Supreme Commander-in-Chief Joseph Rolston, in part, the participation of the Ukrainian contingent in the peacekeeping operation in Kosovo.