US “fully supports” Ukraine NATO bid
Washington, 5 September (IranVNC)—US Vice President Dick Cheney today said that Ukraine should not live in fear of invasion, and that the U.S. “fully supports” that country’s bid for NATO membership.
By: IranVNC
Published: Friday, September 05, 2008
13:30GMT—9:30AM/EST
US – UKRAINE – NATO – RUSSIA
Washington, 5 September (IranVNC)—US Vice President Dick Cheney today said that Ukraine should not live in fear of invasion, and that the U.S. “fully supports” that country’s bid for NATO membership.
“We believe in the right of men and women to live without the threat of tyranny, economic blackmail or military invasion or intimidation,” Cheney was quoted by AP as saying.
He was speaking after separate meetings with Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s, and President Viktor Yushchenko, in the capital city, Kiev.
“The United States fully supports the right of Ukraine to build ever-stronger ties of cooperation and security throughout Europe and across the Atlantic,” Cheney added.
He continued: “We believe that a closer strategic relationship is in the interest of us all.”
Ukraine has applied for membership in both NATO and the European Union, a move supported by Washington, but opposed by Moscow.
Today’s visit was Cheney’s last stop on a trip aimed at showing support for US allies in the region, after last month’s short war between Georgia and Russia.
The meetings came amid a domestic feud between Ukraine’s prime minister and president, but Cheney urged the leaders to cooperate in the face of the Russian “threats”.
“Ukraine’s best hope to overcome these threats is to be united – united domestically first and foremost and united with other democracies.”
For its part, Russia today criticized Cheney’s travels in the former Soviet states, especially his remarks yesterday in Tbilisi, where he voiced support for Georgia’s entry into NATO.
“Such statements, and most of all promises to Tbilisi on NATO membership, only bolster such a dangerous sense of impunity within [President Mikheil] Saakashvili’s regime, and encourage its aggressive ambitions,” Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesperson Andrei Nesterenko as saying.
Tensions between Moscow and the West began escalating when Russia sent troops into Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia after the former Soviet-state tried to retake the region last month.
Moscow drew more condemnations from Western countries when it formally recognized as independent the two Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Today, Nicaragua joined Venezuela and Cuba in recognizing the regions. No other country has yet acknowledged the regions as independent.
The United States has repeatedly condemned Moscow for its actions in Georgia, but yesterday, a US official speaking on condition of anonymity said that Washington was likely to scrap a civilian nuclear pact with Russia, Reuters reports.
The deal in question was meant to remove Cold War restrictions on trade and increase nuclear cooperation between the two former rivals.
In Europe, EU foreign ministers are meeting today in the southern French city of Avignon, to discuss the deployment of a civilian monitoring mission in Georgia – an effort meant to persuade Russia to withdraw its troops from the country.
Sources: Associated Press, Reuters, RIA Novosti in English
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