FOR THE RECORD: Shcherbak on Ukraine-Russia treaty (06/22/97)

FOR THE RECORD: Shcherbak on Ukraine-Russia treaty

Following is the text of remarks by Dr. Yuri Shcherbak, Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S., at the National Press Club in Washington on June 9.

Before I touch upon the Ukraine-Russia treaty and a number of other documents signed during President Boris Yeltsin's visit to Kyiv, I would like to draw your attention to a wider international and general European context in which the signing took place.

The events that took place in May and the beginning of June will attract the attention of historians and politicians for a lengthy period of time and, possibly, will be called "spring wonder," a real breakthrough in Ukrainian foreign policy.

Let me remind you some of these events:

May 7 - NATO General-Secretary Javier Solana opens the NATO Information Center in Kyiv and officially presents to President Leonid Kuchma the draft "Charter on Distinctive Partnership between NATO and Ukraine";
May 8 - the presidents of Ukraine, Russia and Moldova approve in Moscow an agreement on peaceful settlement in the Transdniester;
May 13 - President Alyaksandr Lukashenka visits Kyiv and signs, together with President Kuchma, the Border-Line Agreement between Belarus and Ukraine;
May 16 - the first plenary meeting of the Ukraine-U.S. Binational Commission is held in Washington. President Kuchma together with President Bill Clinton and Vice-President Al Gore review in detail the ways of strengthening the strategic partnership between Ukraine and the U.S. and deepening cooperation in various spheres, economic in particular;
May 21 - President Kuchma and Polish President Alexander Kwasnievski sign in Kyiv a Statement on Accord and Unity, also referred to as a Declaration on Historic Reconciliation;
May 26-27 - the meeting of the presidents of Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, is held in Tallinn; a joint declaration is adopted;
May 28 - during the visit of Russia's Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin to Kyiv, 11 inter-state, inter-governmental and inter-agency agreements and protocols are signed between the two countries. The most important among them are: Agreement on Status and Conditions of Stationing of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation on the Territory of Ukraine;
May 29 - Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Hennadii Udovenko and NATO Secretary-General Solana initial in the city of Sintra, Portugal, the "Charter on Distinctive Partnership between NATO and Ukraine";
May 30-31 - during the state visit of Russia's President Yeltsin to Ukraine, the presidents of the two states sign the Treaty on Friendship and Cooperation;
June 2 - President Kuchma and President Emil Constantinescu of Romania sign a basic bilateral treaty in Constantsa; the treaty stipulates that the countries' existing borders "are inviolable."

Last, but not least, in this series is an event not only of political, but rather of moral and spiritual character:

June 3 - Pope John Paul II is joined by the presidents of Ukraine, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Lithuania at a mass in the Polish city of Gniezno.

Even in this bright constellation of remarkable political achievements, the Ukrainian-Russian treaty has become the star of first magnitude. The signing of this document has opened a new epoch-making page in the history of our countries, and eliminated a number of obstacles that had hindered the development of equal and good-neighborly relations between Ukraine and Russia.

During President Yeltsin's visit, all disputed issues that had accumulated for the last five years were settled, while the national interests of both sides were taken into account on an equal basis.

Relations between our two independent states from now on are legally based on the principle "of mutual respect, sovereign equality, territorial integrity, inviolability of borders, peaceful settlement of disputes, non-use of force or threat by force."

To better understand the genuine meaning of this event, I will add that, for the first time in 300 years, the president of democratic Russia came to democratic Ukraine to conduct talks as an equal with an equal, in sharp contrast to the metropoly-province relations of the past. The Ukrainian leadership has assessed President Yeltsin's visit as confirmation of Russia's willingness to build good-neighborly relations on an equal and mutually beneficial basis, even in the most complicated issues, such as the division of the former Soviet Black Sea Fleet.

Three agreements signed on this issue have filled in the legal vacuum around this problem, and legally confirmed the package solution.

The Agreement on Status and Conditions of Deployment of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on the Territory of Ukraine has established the term of the Russian Black Sea Fleet presence in Ukraine for 20 years, and stipulated that its activity would be carried out in accordance with universally accepted norms of international law.

The Russian Black Sea Fleet undertakes to honor Ukraine's sovereignty and not to interfere in its internal affairs. Under the agreement, the Russian Black Sea Fleet on Ukraine's territory shall not have nuclear weapons.

This agreement regulates military and commercial activities by the Russian Black Sea Fleet formations. The Russian Federation agreed to take necessary steps to protect the environment and participate in the social and economic development of Sevastopol and other places where the Russian Black Sea Fleet units are deployed.

The agreement settles issues of jurisdiction of the Russian armed forces' presence on Ukrainian territory. The division of the ships, armaments and military equipment is defined in the Agreement on the Division of the Black Sea Fleet. The total of 525 combat, auxiliary and support ships of the Black Sea Fleet in general terms are divided equally between Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine transfers to Russia 117 vessels, for which Russia will compensate by cutting down Ukrainian debt to Russia by $521 million.

The agreement sets limits on over-all personnel of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on Ukrainian territory at 25,000 troops, of which land-based personnel of the naval infantry and aviation should not exceed 1,987. Limits are also set for the number of vessels, armaments and equipment stationed by Russia on Ukraine's territory.

According to the agreement, the main base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet will be located in Sevastopol. The document provides for use by the Russian Fleet of several other bases on Ukrainian territory in Crimea. The Ukrainian navy will also use the base and naval infrastructure in Sevastopol. The separate basing of two naval forces will be assured by the use of separate bays: three by Russia, and one by Ukraine.

According to the Agreement on Settlement of Payments, the Ukrainian naval infrastructure in Sevastopol and other basing points on the territory of Ukraine will be used by the Russian Black Sea Fleet on the basis of a lease for a limited period of time.

I want to underline the personal roles of Presidents Kuchma and Yeltsin, who gave a positive impulse to the development of bilateral relations. They activated the negotiating process, personally solved the most complicated problems of economic cooperation, and took the responsibility before the peoples of Ukraine and Russia to stop the negative development of events.

Finally, I want to make some conclusions:

1. Ukrainian-Russian agreements put an actual end to all speculations as to the territorial and border problems existing between our countries. The agreements once and for all have eliminated the illusion of a "single and undivided" Soviet empire. They have strengthened the statehood and sovereignty of Ukraine.

2. The Ukrainian-Russian agreements have opened the prospects for broad economic cooperation between our countries on an equal basis.

3. The agreements have made a significant contribution to strengthening European and global security.

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