Last week military representatives from 16 countries agreed on the final details of the 1998 Peace Shield multinational peacemaking training operation, to take place in September at the Yavorivsky testing ground. This might become the first training operation, the expenses of which Ukraine will have to cover on its own, as NATO representatives told Ukrainian military representatives.
Until now NATO and USA paid 80% and 20% correspondingly for all operations on this initiative.
Representative of Ukrainian military center for cooperation coordination Oleksandr Zahorny admitted to The Day, "It was clear from the very beginning that we would not cooperate with NATO only at their expense. We even planned that the state budget would secure funding for cooperation needs, but we failed to do so." Today it is almost impossible to find additional money for cooperation with NATO, because the Ministry of Defense fails to pay servicemen, who put their trust on the USA. Washington decided not only to pay, but also to persuade all their colleagues to do so. "Ukraine and the United States will cooperate with NATO to receive corresponding financial support for participation in Partnership For Peace programs," states the summary of the second session of the Kuchma-Gore commission.
We can hardly believe that the United States did not know about the decision to cut financial aid to Ukraine, so it seems that Washington decided to tickle the ribs of Ukrainian generals, so that they continue believing that NATO is humanitarian organization.






