YAVORIV, Ukraine Closing a week of NATO exercises at a former Soviet army base, the U.S. Secretary of Defense hailed Ukraines strengthening ties to the alliance Friday July 11 and promised that its door remains open.
Two days after Ukraine signed a special partnership agreement with NATO, 13 nations five NATO members and eight other European countries concluded a week of peacekeeping drills that demonstrated the alliances push to the east.
On the soil that once suffered the bootfalls of troops from one half of Europe training for war with the other half, you the forces from all over Europe came to train for peace, Defense Secretary William Cohen told the troops.
Speaking after the NATO flag was hauled down to end the exercises, Cohen praised Ukraine as a unifying element across the continents old dividing lines.
But in a sign that Ukraines coziness with NATO continues to trouble Russia, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry indicated for the first time Tuesday July 15 that the land-based portion of the larger NATO exercise Sea Breeze has been moved away from the Crimean peninsula to appease Ukraines giant neighbor.
Despite the recent settlement of the dispute over the status of Russian troops based in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, ethnic Russians who form the majority of the regions residents continue to resent rule from Kyiv and have opposed NATOs plans to stage maneuvers in the area. Some Russian politicans continue to demand that the peninsula revert to Russia.
We considered all the political subtleties and decided … not to aggravate the situation on the peninsula, said Defense Ministry spokesman Dmitry Shkurko.
Sea Breeze was originally to be held in the Donuzlav area, 25 km from the Crimean resort city of Yevpatoria. Ships from the U.S. Sixth Fleet and other navies will still maneuver off the Crimean coast, but U.S. Marines will now land at the Shiroliy Lan exercise grounds near Odessa.
The decision was made three weeks ago at a meeting of Ukrainian and U.S. military officials, Shkuro said. He could not say which side initiated the decision, however.
Despite the concession to Russian sensibilities, the Ukrainian government is resisting demands from some members of Parliament that Sea Breeze be submitted to the legislature for approval under a constitutional provision restricting the presence of foreign troops on Ukrainian soil.
The less controversial exercises completed last week near the western city of Lviv included NATO nations and eight members of the alliances Partnership for Peace program who trained in peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, medical evacuation and other tasks.
Addressing combat troops standing at attention, Cohen called the drill the first fullfledged Partnership for Peace exercise on the soil of Ukraine, which has been an active member of the alliances junior partnership since 1994.
Ukraine has not applied to join NATO, but Cohen held out the carrot of eventual membership, stressing that the door will remain open, and the key to that door is the Partnership for Peace.
Ukrainian defense Minister Olexander Kuzmuk clearly got the point, raising a glass to the partnership for a lunchtime vodka toast.
Ukraine has disappointed the West since the 1991 Soviet collapse by failing to build a strong economy. But it has pleased the United States and NATO in military matters, scrapping nuclear weapons last year and turning westward for security.
Our aim is to demonstrate with military operations that Ukraine is a civilized European country, Kuzmuk said in his address to the troops and other participants.
After the closing ceremony, Cohen visited the base of a tank regiment, where Kuzmuk showed him squeakyclean barracks and a row of decadeold T72 tanks freshly painted for the occasion. He then flew to Kyiv, where he met for 45 minutes with Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and gave a speech at a local military academy.
The defense secretary stressed that Ukraine must work hard to reform the armed forces and the crippled economy if its leaders want to achieve their goal of integration with NATO and the West.
Failing to do the hard work required to meet these challenges will turn the high words and the high purposes announced in the [NATOUkraine] charter into little more than empty rhetoric, Cohen told the cadets.
The rhetoric adopted in Madrid includes a pledge by NATO allies to support Ukrainian sovereignty and independence, territorial integrity, democratic development, economic prosperity and its status as a nonnuclear weapons state …
Less generally, the agreement created a new NATOUkraine Commission to make continuing assessments of the relationship and plan for the future.
Alliance officials said the NATOUkraine Commission would not be at the same high level as the new NATORussia Permanent Joint Council created under an agreement signed in Paris last May. It would not have its own permanent staff or secretariat and would not involve continuous consultation, as the Russian agreement does.
Ukrainian officials will, however, meet at least twice a year with the North Atlantic Council, NATOs top policymaking body and a Ukrainian military liaison mission will be established at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
