Ukraine's foreign affairs minister meets with U.N. secretary general

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - Capping a four-day working visit to the United States, Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs Kostyantyn Gryshchenko met with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York on June 22.

A spokesman for Ukraine's Permanent Mission to the U.N. told The Weekly that Messrs. Gryshchenko and Annan met for nearly half an hour and discussed a number of topics, including the aftereffects of the 1986 nuclear catastrophe in Chornobyl, the rapid increase in Ukraine of people infected with HIV/AIDS, and Ukraine's role as a peacekeeping force in Iraq.

According to a statement released by Ukraine's Mission to the U.N. on June 22, the two discussed cooperation between the U.N. and Ukraine in a number of spheres. Mr. Annan thanked Mr. Gryshchenko for Ukraine's role at the U.N., while Mr. Gryshchenko noted the importance of increasing the U.N.'s role in Iraq, specifically by playing a greater part in the transfer of political power in that country. He also said that Ukraine is ready to help fulfill the mandate of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1546, which deals with the situation in Iraq.

Later that day in New York, a working meeting took place between Mr. Gryshchenko and the U.N. representatives of the multinational force in Iraq, according to the statement from the Ukrainian Mission.

Mr. Gryshchenko said that more work was still required in Iraq. He noted the need for better coordination and cooperation among the stabilization force there; and the creation of a system to share information on political and military levels between the countries that make up the multinational force, according to the statement.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, July 4, 2004, No. 27, Vol. LXXII

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