Not a party crasher

Globe and Mail, Letter to the Editor, November 29, 2002

Re Ukraine's Kuchma NATO's Party Crasher (Nov. 23) and Serbia Accused of Arming Iraq (Nov. 25); Leonid Kuchma is not "persona non grata" among NATO nations.

On Nov. 21, at the reception organized by Czech President Vaclav Havel during the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit, the Ukrainian President met with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. He also had short and informal meetings with NATO Secretary-General George Robertson; European Council Secretary-General Javier Solana; the presidents of Poland, Slovakia, Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan; the foreign ministers of Austria, Italy and Russia.

Regarding the alleged sale of a radar system to Iraq, I wish to emphasize that Ukraine provided British and American experts with unprecedented access to information - including classified data - dealing with the export and export control of dual-use items. The British-U.S. team was also allowed to visit a Ukrainian factory that manufactures the Kolchuga radar system as well as locations in Ukraine where these systems are deployed.

On Nov. 9, Ukraine addressed the UN Security Council asking to assess the report of the British-U.S. experts so it could conduct its own investigation. Ukraine is determined to remove any doubts regarding this issue and to prove groundless the accusations that it has transferred arms or dual-use items to Iraq.

YURI SCHERBAK
Ukrainian Ambassador, Ottawa