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Powell offers US help to new Ukrainian leader
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-01-23 14:55

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, a prominent guest for President Viktor Yushchenko's inauguration on Sunday, said Washington would help Ukraine boost its economy and join the World Trade Organization.


Ukraine's President-elect Viktor Yushchenko holds a Bulava, Ukraine's historical symbol of power, during a ceremony in downtown Kiev one day before his inauguration. [AFP]
Yushchenko, keen to steer the former Soviet republic closer to the West while consolidating traditional links with Russia, will take the oath of office in ceremonies designed to be a mass celebration to mark a turning point in Ukraine's history.

Powell, who will hold talks with Yushchenko, said the United States wanted to help Ukraine without undermining the country's longstanding ties with neighboring Russia.

"I expect in my conversations, we will have a chance to talk about economic reform, considerations with respect to the WTO and greater involvement in the trans-Atlantic relationship," Powell told reporters en route to Kiev.

"I think there are many things we can do to help them ... We hope we can enhance the performance of (Ukraine's) economy as well. We can provide assistance."

Powell said he would set down reforms needed to boost Ukraine's WTO entry chances and assess what aid was required so the U.S. Congress could be lobbied for funds.

Yushchenko, his face disfigured from dioxin poisoning he blames on secret services, was elected in a race dominated by mass protests against fraud in a first ballot that he lost. The Supreme Court ordered a second vote which he won comfortably.

END DIVISIONS PLEA

On the eve of his inauguration, Yushchenko called for an end to divisions between Ukraine's nationalist western regions and the Russian-speaking east that had been accentuated by the election campaign.

Presidents of at least seven countries are due to attend the inauguration. The countries will include Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Estonia and Latvia -- all formerly communist states now committed to European integration.

Yushchenko will become the third president in Ukraine's post-Soviet era at a parliamentary ceremony at 5 a.m. EST.

He will then go to Independence Square, scene of boisterous rallies in his support after the rigged initial vote, to address a crowd widely expected to number in the hundreds of thousands.

Powell's offer of help followed a telephone call to Yushchenko by President Bush on Saturday in which the new Ukrainian leader was invited to Washington. Powell said it was hoped the visit would be "in the not too distant future."

The United States helped another former Soviet republic, Georgia, in a similar fashion after its "rose revolution" more than a year ago brought Western-leaning President Mikahil Saakashvili to power.

Washington played a major role in tipping the balance during weeks of political turmoil in Ukraine over the presidential election, branding as "illegitimate" the first ballot won by Moscow-backed Viktor Yanukovich.

But Powell, due to step down as Bush starts his second term, said Ukraine needed to uphold good ties with Russia.

"We were never going about this for the purpose of scoring points, nor do I think any Ukrainians were doing it to score points," said Powell, who will also meet outgoing President Leonid Kuchma.

Yushchenko, a former prime minister and central banker, wants to eradicate corruption and build a country with a transparent economy and institutions to join the European mainstream. Ukraine borders the 25-nation European Union.

On Monday, Yushchenko will fulfil a promise to make Moscow his first foreign destination by meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

His program this week also includes visits to the Council of Europe, a major rights body, the European Parliament, the World Economic Forum in Switzerland and commemorations in Poland of the Soviet army's liberation of the Auschwitz death camp.



 
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