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Ukraine's new president visits Russia
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-01-24 20:39
MOSCOW - In a symbolic trip a day after his inauguration, Ukraine's President
Viktor Yushchenko arrived in Russia on Monday to smooth relations with the
Kremlin, which feared the Western-oriented reformer would try to take his
country out of Russia's orbit and had staunchly backed his rival.
In his first full day in office, Yushchenko faces a delicate balancing act in
meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose support for the losing candidate
had badly hurt Russia's relations with the West.
"Russia is a large country, Ukraine's lifelong neighbor, with whom we can
live in peace and accord," Yushchenko said Monday after a service at Kiev's
Sofiisky Cathedral where he offered prayers for Ukraine before heading to
Moscow.
Russia views Ukraine as a key part of its historic sphere of influence, a
major transit route for its oil and gas exports and a buffer between the
expanding European Union and NATO. Moscow is nervous about Yushchenko's plans to
quickly integrate the 48-million nation into Western structures.
On his inauguration day Sunday, Yushchenko reaffirmed his aim to shift
Ukraine's focus westward.
"Our place is in the European Union," he said to a crowd estimated at more
than 100,000 people in Independence Square, where throngs of his supporters had
gathered to protest fraud in the Nov. 21 runoff vote won by then Prime Minister
Viktor Yanukovych.
While the United States and other Western countries refused to acknowledge
the fraudulent vote, Putin twice congratulated Yanukovych on his victory and
bristled at opposition demands for a fresh rematch — a course that cast a cloud
over Moscow's ties with the West.
Amid the round-the-clock opposition protests dubbed the "Orange Revolution"
after Yushchenko's campaign color, Ukraine's Supreme Court invalidated the
election results and ordered a Dec. 26 rerun, which Yushchenko handily won.
In a promise clearly aimed at appeasing the country's large numbers of
Russian-speaking people, many of whom fear his Ukrainian nationalist sentiments
might lead to discrimination against them, Yushchenko said: "Everyone can teach
his children the language of his forefathers."
He also has pledged to develop close economic ties with Russia, Ukraine's
biggest trading partner and investor. Ukraine under former President Leonid
Kuchma signed up as a key member of a planned joint economic space that would
unite it with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan in an arrangement that aims to
harmonize tax, customs and other trade links.
Yushchenko hasn't made clear whether he intends to pursue the agreement,
saying only that Ukraine would have to ensure that its national interests are
met.
Putin and other Russian officials have tried to get past the election
controversy, emphasizing the need to maintain close ties.
"There is no alternative to the development of relations," Russian Foreign
Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said Monday.
Putin on Monday asked Cabinet officials for their proposals on how to develop
economic relations with Ukraine.
After his trip to Moscow, Yushchenko is to embark on several days of visits
to Western European countries including an appearance at the European Parliament
to push his drive for closer ties. But the EU has made it clear that Ukraine is
not yet in line to become a member.
Yushchenko has promised to turn the country around after years of corruption,
widespread at almost every level of government, and he pledged to safeguard
freedom of speech.
He said Monday more consultations were needed before he could nominate a
prime minister. His most visible ally, Yuliya Tymoshenko, publicly says she
expects the job, but she is widely disliked by the Kremlin and Yushchenko's
hesitation to name his choice could be aimed at avoiding a provocative decision
just before his Moscow trip.
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