CIS heads of state meet; Ukraine resists integration (01/28/96)

CIS heads of state meet; Ukraine resists integration

by Danylo Yanevsky
Special to the Ukrainian Weekly

KYIV - The CIS Council of Heads of State met in Moscow on January 19 with Ukraine resisting pressures for further integration with former Soviet republics.

The CIS summit adopted a flag and emblem of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The emblem features white stylized figures on a blue background their arms extending upward; the flag is blue and white.

Summit participants also agreed to establish a CIS Council of Internal Affairs Ministers, on the model of the councils of foreign ministers and defense ministers, and to collectively guarantee peace on the territory of the CIS via creation of CIS peacekeeping forces.

President Leonid Kuchma said Ukraine did not participate in discussions about CIS symbols since Ukraine his not a signatory of the CIS Charter and is only an associate member of that body. Ukraine also did not participate in discussions on joint military formations or the customs union as Ukraine has chosen not to participate in such structures.

Commenting on the CIS summit, Mr. Kuchma said: "The CIS today has a significant role as a consultative council. At such meetings one can present many questions and in some manner, receive answers.'' He noted that the fundamental principle that must be understood is that all CIS members are partners with equal rights.

Ukrainian television reported that President Leonid Kuchma later spoke out against the adoption of CIS symbols, inasmuch as the CIS is not a subject of international law, and Ukraine opposes its transformation into a supra-state structure of a confederative or federative type. Adoption of CIS symbols would mean that the CIS is in fact an international organization.

Moloda Ukraina reported, however, that when asked at a press conference at Ukraine' s Embassy in Moscow if Ukraine would accept the new CIS symbols, President Kuchma did not reply.

President Kuchma told journalists gathered at that press conference that the CIS meeting was held with all eyes on the upcoming presidential elections in Russia.

He also confirmed that Ukraine and Russia would indeed sign a bilateral treaty, regardless of problems related to the Black Sea Fleet, and that President Boris Yeltsin will travel to Kyiv in late March.

Yeltsin's spin

Speaking at a press conference following the meeting, President Yeltsin said the "tendency toward voluntary integration" of members of the Commonwealth of Independent States continues. At the same time, however, these states oppose re-establishment of the Soviet Union, he added.

"States of the Commonwealth do not want to renounce their political independence. And no one will force them to do this," said Mr. Yeltsin.

The Russian president also noted Ukraine's recalcitrance: "Ukraine thus far does not want integration. It does not want it, although I tried to persuade - very insistently tried to persuade - Kuchma. The integration of Russia and Ukraine is salvation for both states from the problems that face us today... And they [Ukraine] do not have fewer problems," he underlined.

Nonetheless, the Russian president said he would make an official visit to Ukraine in March for the signing of what he described as "a wide-ranging political agreement with Ukraine."

Regarding the demarcation of borders between Russia and Ukraine, the Respublika press agency reported that Mr. Yeltsin said, "Kuchma and I agreed to create a special committee on borders and that this committee would submit clear proposals for the future."

19th summit meeting

The Open Media Research Institute reported that President Yeltsin had opened this 19th meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State by praising the "significant practical steps" taken in 1995 toward CIS economic integration, which he described as "a free choice" by its members that preserved their "sovereignty and independence." Mr. Yeltsin also called for tighter coordination of defense and foreign policies within the CIS, arguing that only collectively could they resolve their security problems.

The 12-member Council of Heads of State re-elected the Russian president as its chairman; he continues to hold the post despite a 1993 agreement to rotate it. It was the second time Mr. Yeltsin was re-elected for a one-year term.

The council addressed 24 topics during its meeting and agreed on a number of issues, including expanding the Belarus-Russia-Kazakhstan customs union, extending the mandate of CIS peacekeepers in Tajikistan and bolstering CIS air defense.

On Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze's proposal, participants of the CIS summit agreed to sign a document about employing joint political and economic efforts against the secessionist Abkhaz republic.

Meanwhile, Ukraine, Moldova and Russia signed a trilateral statement recognizing the Dniester region as a constituent part of Moldova, BASA-press and Infotag reported. The three leaders stressed the need for a speedy political settlement to the Dniester conflict in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, and documents of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Council of Europe and the CIS.

In other matters, the CIS Council of Heads of State directed experts to look into the matter of creating, on the basis of an existing independent news agency, a joint news service for all CIS states. Proposals on that issue are to be presented at the next meeting of CIS Heads of State, now slated to take place on May 17 in Moscow.

The proposal for a CIS-wide news agency was offered by President Kuchma; observers say it was understood that he had in mind the Russian-based Interfax agency.

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