KYIV, November 7 – Ukraine has been asked to provide U.S. and British arms experts with answers to several more questions to determine whether the country transferred radar systems to Iraq in violation of U.N. sanctions, news reports said Wednesday.
Officials said a report by nonproliferation experts who visited Ukraine last month called on Ukraine to provide them access to classified documents and minutes of meetings of the export control committee, comprehensive technical details about the radar system, information about Russia’s potential role in producing the systems and details about a deal to sell the systems to China, according to the Inter TV channel and the Ukrayinska Pravda news service.
U.S. and British officials delivered the report to Ukraine’s government on Tuesday, but the results have not been made public Yevhen Marchuk, chairman of the National Security and Defense Council, said Ukraine considers the technical details to be protected trade secrets. “We explained that to the Americans … they understood that,” the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.
Meanwhile, Ukraine fears disclosure of the deal with China might spoil its relations with its second largest buyer of Kolchuha radar systems. A team of 13 U.S. and British experts spent a week in Ukraine last month investigating whether the country sent any Kolchuha radar systems to Baghdad in violation of U.N. sanctions.
The investigation came after the U.S. State Department said it had verified the authenticity of a July 2000 recording in which President Leonid Kuchma is allegedly heard approving the sale of a Kolchuha system to Iraq for US$100 million. Ukrainian officials have denied any sale was made, and Kuchma has denied giving his approval. The issue has badly harmed U.S. relations with the Ukrainian government and also may derail Ukraine’s bid to get on NATO’s membership track, which is to be decided at a summit in Prague Nov. 21-22.
Speaking in Vienna, Kuchma said Ukraine would permit visits by “additional experts” to prove it is not involved in illicit deals with Baghdad. Meanwhile, Deputy Assistant U.S. Secretary of State and former Ambassador to Ukraine Stefen Pifer met with Ukrainian parliamentary leaders Wednesday, saying that he hopes Ukraine’s answers to the follow-up questions will clarify the situation, according to Interfax.
The investigation is expected to help the United States determine whether to take further punitive measures against Ukraine. Washington suspended US$54 million in aid to the government last month as part of a policy review and threatened more sanctions. A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity said last week that the results of the investigation were inconclusive but that the United States is expected to impose additional penalties. Ukraine is the fourth-largest recipient of U.S. aid, receiving some US$230 million annually.
