Speaker’s Russian Debut
Volodymyr Lytvyn’s visit to Moscow had several noteworthy aspects. It was his first trip to Moscow as speaker of the Ukrainian parliament. At the closing press conference he described his meeting with President Vladimir Putin as quite friendly and unconstrained. They had discussed matters relating not only to bilateral relationships, but also Kyiv’s and Moscow’s stand with regard to “European and Euro-Atlantic structures.” Interestingly, Mr. Lytvyn noted that both sides had to coordinate their foreign political efforts, including in relation to the Council of Europe. Indeed, but what does this coordination actually mean? What will it look like in practice and how will it affect Ukraine’s independent politics, considering its current (mildly speaking) complex situation? Also, one ought to bear in mind that Ukraine and Russia still practice different approaches to the delimitation and demarcation of the sea frontiers, as well as to NATO expansion (Moscow, incidentally, has not officially objected to Kyiv’s closer relationships with the alliance). Ukraine proclaimed integration into the European Union the basis of its foreign political strategy. Russia has never mentioned any such plans and is not likely to do so in the nearest future, all things considered. No information was forthcoming about what Vladimir Putin and Premier Kasyanov had had to say on the subject of “trade wars” during their meetings with Volodymyr Lytvyn – or whether Russia still insisted on Ukraine’s membership in the Eurasian Economic Community.
Another interesting aspect is that, during Mr. Lytvyn’s meeting with Patriarch Aleksiy II of Moscow and All Rus’, the Ukrainian side in a roundabout way voiced official support of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchy. Interfax quotes Mr. Lytvyn as saying that “if we lose our roots, it will be difficult for us to refer to ourselves as a civilized polity” and “Since we are Orthodox, we live in this environment. It is like asking one how one feels without air,” when asked whether Kyiv supports UOC MP. It is also true, however, that the latter is numerically the strongest church of Ukraine. Aleksiy II said he would like to visit Ukraine before the end of the year.
The VR speaker said he had the impression that “we talk too much about Ukrainian-Russian relationships.” In his opinion, there are the same underlying problems in the relationships with Moscow. It is time both sides finished discussing these problems and got around to actually solving them, seeking points of rapprochement. Among the problems at issue Mr. Lytvyn listed economy, “certain sensitive aspects of the humanitarian domain,” “difficult pages of history,” and called for effective solutions.
The speaker informed that during his talks in Moscow it had been decided to set up a commission, on a parity basis to discuss matters relating to the development of Russian-Ukrainian relationships. It will include 20 Ukrainian people’s deputies, 10 from the State Duma, and as many from the Council of the Federation (the upper house of the Russian parliament). All in all, he said, there was every reason to feel satisfied with that visit.
