Yushchenko's penultimate word

In Moscow they considered it belated

President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko yesterday personally intervened in the heated debate that flared up in Kyiv regarding the prospects for his country's participation in the creation of the Common Economic Space. The controversy surrounding this issue, as is known, was aroused by the statement of the Minister of Economy of Ukraine Sergei Terekhin, made on August 19 after negotiations in Kiev with the head of the Ministry of Economic Development German Gref (see Vremya Novostey, August 22) , about Ukraine’s intention to withdraw from the SES. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko qualified Mr. Terekhin’s words as “recommendatory theses of two ministers” (meaning Mr. Gref) to their presidents. At the same time, Ms. Tymoshenko did not at all try to disavow the essence of these recommendations, making it clear that such a development of events is quite possible, but the last word belongs to the presidents of Ukraine and Russia.

And yesterday Viktor Yushchenko said this “word”. And although, obviously, it is not the “last” (in Kyiv, the words of politicians rarely turn out to be so), what the Ukrainian president said seems important. “We will take part,” Mr. Yushchenko answered laconically when asked about Ukraine’s position regarding participation in the SES. But then he surrounded this “yes” with so many reservations that there were no more doubts about the accuracy of Mr. Terekhin’s forecast. In fact, Viktor Yushchenko repeated his position. Speaking about “Ukraine’s interests in the east, including within the framework of the Common Economic Space” and “in the west, within the framework of mechanisms traditional for the European community (read: within the EU and WTO. - Ed. ),” Mr. Yushchenko talked about the unacceptability of “circumstances” under which the “organization of Eastern policy” would block the implementation of the principles of Western policy.

Mr. Yushchenko tried to create the impression that the doors to the corridor of cooperation between Kyiv and the Common Economic Space remain open. He said that the Ukrainian side is going to continue this work and at the upcoming CIS summit in Kazan on August 26-27, propose for discussion more than ten initiatives “on the most complex and pressing issues.” According to Mr. Yushchenko, he has already agreed on a meeting in Kazan with Vladimir Putin to discuss the entire range of relations between the two countries, “starting from the Yushchenko-Putin commission to the road map for the second half of this year.”

Meanwhile, it turned out that the Russian leadership, currently presiding over the main bodies of the CIS, refused to include a discussion of the issues proposed by Kiev on the agenda of the Kazan summit. They relate to readmission, border demarcation, the creation of transport corridors for energy resources, a free trade zone, and social protection measures for CIS citizens. This was announced by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Boris Tarasyuk. Yesterday, official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Mikhail Kamynin confirmed Moscow’s position, explaining it by the Ukrainian side making proposals too late - just two weeks before the summit, which makes it impossible to “detailed and thoroughly study the most serious problems in other formats and in other forums.” Another commentary from the Russian Foreign Ministry yesterday rejected Kyiv's reproaches against Moscow that it is slowing down the process of final agreement on the “road map,” as the “Russia-Ukraine Action Plan for 2005-2006” is called. On the contrary, they say on Smolenskaya Square, “the Ukrainian side was not ready to sign this plan on May 8 in Moscow.”

Such a more than lively exchange of mutual reproaches, as well as another round of the marking time and essentially fruitless process of creating the CES on the eve of the Kazan CIS summit, if it testifies to anything, it is perhaps the usefulness of regular meetings of the CIS Presidential Club: their holding stimulates this appearance of political effort within the Commonwealth. Indeed, with such a level of readiness for cooperation, it would have been impossible to agree on holding bilateral meetings between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents, without the opportunity of a regular CIS summit.

Arkady DUBNOV