Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's visit to Ukraine, which had been scheduled for October, has been canceled, the Kommersant-Ukraine newspaper reported on Friday.
According to the newspaper, Putin “has decided not to hold frequent
meetings with [Ukrainian] Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, so as not to
create the impression that Moscow was supporting her during the
presidential election campaign.”
At the same time, Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko will have the
chance to improve relations with Russia, as he may attend a CIS summit
in Chisinau, Moldova, and meet with his Russian counterpart Dmitry
Medvedev, the newspaper reported.
The announcement that Putin would visit Ukraine in October was made
at a joint press conference with the Ukrainian and Russian premiers in
Gdansk, Poland, on September 1. The premiers promised that they would
hold a meeting of the economic cooperation committee of the
Ukrainian-Russian interstate commission in Kharkiv.
Ukrainian Ambassador to Russia Kostiantyn Hryschenko and Putin’s
press secretary Dmitry Peskov earlier said active preparations for this
meeting had been going on for the last two weeks. However, the
newspaper reported that a few days ago, Putin’s office told
Tymoshenko’s headquarters that the visit had been cancelled. Newspaper
sources said that Putin’s decision not to come to Kharkiv had been
taken in connection with the presidential election campaign in Ukraine,
and Moscow had decided that it would be inappropriate for there to be
frequent meetings between the Russian premier and Tymoshenko, who is a
future presidential candidate in Ukraine.
A newspaper source said that the economic committee meeting would be
postponed, but would be held, along with a meeting of the CIS council
of the heads of government, in Yalta on November 19-20. Peskov
confirmed that Putin’s visit could be postponed until November and that
he might visit a different city.
