In his four-hour farewell press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to target any NATO bases established in Ukraine.
During his four-hour, farewell press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered insight into his view of Russian-Ukrainian relations, most notably threatening to target any NATO bases established in Ukraine.
“What are we supposed to do?” Putin said during the marathon question-and-answer session. If Ukraine establishes bases, “we will be forced to redirect our missiles at sites which we believe threaten our national security.”
Putin’s stark warning reveals the Russian government’s view that continued NATO expansion, which may include both Ukraine and Georgia, could threaten their national security interests, experts said.
“Putin’s words were meant to send three messages – cautioning NATO about future eastward expansion, warning new NATO members Poland and the Czech Republic about hosting new anti-missile systems, and slowing down Ukraine’s NATO designs,” said Oleksiy Haran, the founding director of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy’s School for Policy Analysis.
In an attempt to smooth over the controversy, President Viktor Yushchenko stated, “if Russia is worried about (NATO) military bases, then Ukraine will never go for that. We are prepared to constitutionally guarantee it.”
Ukraine’s constitution explicitly prohibits the establishment of foreign military bases on its soil.
Meanwhile, other top Ukrainian officials reinforced the country’s sovereign right to determine its own security arrangements. “We are an independent state and will make our own decisions regardless of what others say,” said Anatoliy Hrytsenko, a former defense minister.
Ukraine’s NATO aspirations exploded into controversy last month when the country’s three top leaders the president, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, and Parliamentary Speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk – sent a letter to the NATO Secretary General requesting consideration for the Membership Action Plan (MAP).
During his press conference, the Russian president rebuked the Ukrainian leadership, implying they were violating democratic principles.
“As for the situation in Ukraine, according to the information I have, the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians oppose joining NATO,” Putin said. “But the Ukrainian leadership has nonetheless signed a certain document on starting the accession procedure. Is this democracy? Were the country’s citizens asked their opinion?”
Putin’s rhetoric was also meant to support Ukraine’s domestic NATO opposition, particularly opposition leader Victor Yanukovych and the Party of Regions, Haran said.
Since the letter became public, the nation’s legislative branch has been paralyzed by the opposition, principally the Party of the Regions and Communist Party, who have staged a monthlong shutdown, not allowing parliament to work.
The opposition insists that a referendum be conducted before Ukraine joins the MAP and will not cease its protest until their demands are met.
Yanukovych sent an open letter to NATO’s governing body urging it to reject the socalled “Letter of Three,” telling the alliance that admitting Ukraine to the MAP could “result in splitting Ukrainian society.” Yanukovych plans to follow up his note by sending a delegation to Brussels later this month.
“Ironically, Yanukovych is using the NATO debate as a wedge issue for personal political gain,” says Ilko Kucheriv of the Westernfinanced Democratic Initiatives Foundation.
NATO membership remains deeply unpopular with large segments of the population, particularly the Russophile eastern regions and Crimea.
According to a Horshenin Institute Poll conducted between Feb. 7 and 18, 43.6 percent of Ukrainians would vote against joining NATO if a referendum were conducted today.
“Unfortunately, the new administration’s public information campaign regarding NATO has been completely ineffective, allowing the opposition to seize the initiative and frame the debate,” Kucheriv said.
While Putin’s controversial NATO comments received the most attention, the Russian president also discussed the recently resolved gas dispute. The tone was more conciliatory. “I think that if the same constructive approach can be applied to resolving other problems, then relations between Ukraine and the Russian Federation will most certainly be set to grow,” Putin said.
Putin disavowed alleged Russian encroachment on Ukraine’s gas infrastructure, saying “we have long since given up on such an idea,” adding, “We just want the system to function normally. What we proposed was to establish an international consortium with the participation of European partners, and this consortium would raise resources, we’re talking about billions of dollars, not just for the transport system’s technical maintenance, but also for its development. The system itself, meanwhile, would remain the property of Ukraine.”
Last week, the two nations’ leaders brokered a deal resolving the latest gas debt, also agreeing to eliminate two controversial intermediaries.
