UKRAINE: MR. PUTIN COMES TO KYIV

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KYIV 004660

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/20/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV RU UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: MR. PUTIN COMES TO KYIV

REF: KYIV 4597

Classified By: Ambassador, reason 1.4 (b,d)


1. (SBU) Summary. Russian President Vladimir Putin made a
compressed one-day visit to KYIV December 22, his first since
March 2005 and the second since Ukraine's November-December
2004 Orange Revolution. Putin and Yushchenko met for
two-and-a-half hours alone, without notetakers. After the
formal launch of the Yushchenko-Putin bilateral commission,
there was only time for a truncated joint press opportunity
and a five minute Putin call on PM Yanukovych, though
Yanukovych rode in Putin's car to the airport. The primary
achievements, Presidential Secretariat deputy head Chaliy
told Ambassador, were the positive atmosphere and the
launching of the formal Yushchenko-Putin Commission
mechanism. Of the four bilateral agreements signed, the ones
on readmissions and intellectual property protection were
more important than those on simplified border crossing
procedures and cultural cooperation.


2. (C) Comment: Putin's visit was important primarily for
finally having happened after frequent delays over the past
18 months. Much commentary revolved around the potential
impact on gas prices and deliveries in the wake of Turkmen
President Niyazov's death, along with symbolic details:
Yushchenko switching into Russian for the bulk of the joint
news conference; Putin clinking champagne glasses with FM
Tarasyuk, whom he is known to despise, after having allegedly
delayed his departure from Moscow by 90 minutes to ensure
Tarasyuk did not meet him on arrival; Yanukovych riding in
Putin's Russian limo to the airport for a special chat.
Ukraine's leading foreign policy expert Oleksandr Sushko told
us he saw nothing special about what was a routine visit; it
did not symbolize Ukraine's return to Russia's sphere of
influence, and the most contentious bilateral issues, like
the Black Sea Fleet, were not addressed head on. Prominent
commentator Serhiy Taran noted to us that while the visit,
within the framework of the Yushchenko-Putin Commission,
broke a perceived monopoly by Party of Regions on
constructively engaging Russia by giving Yushchenko the
preeminent role, it also highlighted the ongoing tensions and
duality in Ukraine's two policy centers around the President
and Prime Minister. End Summary and Comment.

A long-delayed working visit finally transpires
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3. (SBU) Russian President Vladimir Putin led a high-ranking
Russian delegation to KYIV December 22 to launch the
long-delayed Yushchenko-Putin Commission. While four
bilateral agreements (on readmission, IPR, borders, and
culture) were signed during the visit, ministers, not
presidents, endorsed the agreements. Yushchenko and Putin
talked one-on-one for two and a half hours and held a joint
press conference, but they did not sign or issue any joint
declaration.


4. (SBU) Oleksandr Chaliy, head of the Presidential
Secretariat's Foreign Policy Directorate, told Ambassador

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December 23 that a positive atmosphere surrounded the visit,
which established the formal presidential commission
mechanism after many delays. Both Chaliy and Sushko
highlighted the readmissions agreement, which is crucial for
Ukraine to implement its readmission agreement with the
European Union (note: nearly all illegal third-country
migrants passing through Ukraine to the EU arrive from
Russia. Without a readmission agreement with Russia, Ukraine
was at risk of a huge buildup of returned migrants from the
EU).


5. (SBU) Chaliy noted that both presidents wanted more
specifics for the action plan presented by subordinates,
including the updating of the strategic partnership
agreement. The tentative schedule looking forward would be
to have an action plan ready for review by the end of
February, with the next presidential session tentatively
scheduled for May/June 2007.


6. (SBU) On specific issues of interest, Chaliy said both
presidents endorsed resumption of negotiations on the status
of Transnistria in the 5 2 format without preconditions, now
that transportation/railroad problems between Russia,
Moldova, the Transnistrian region, and Ukraine had been
resolved. Putin had stated that PM Yanukovych's request to
coordinate transportation tariffs between Russia and Ukraine
could only be considered in the context of the Single
Economic Space (SES. Note: currently, Ukraine's position is
that it will only consider joining a free trade agreement but
not more ambitious steps like a customs union advocated by
Russia in the SES). Also significant may have been what was
not said. For example, the issue of "synchronizing" WTO

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accessions, raised by Russian PM Fradkov during his visit to
KYIV in October, was conspicuously absent from public
statements.

The ghost of Turkmenbashi and the Tarasyuk factor
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7. (SBU) The specter of the recent death of Turkmen
President Niyazov and potential implications for gas supplies
hung over the Russian-Ukrainian talks. PM foreign policy
adviser Hryshchenko, not directly involved in the Putin
visit, noted that both Ukraine and Russia were concerned
about Niyazov's death. Journalists asked Putin during the
press conference about the stability of Russian gas supplies
to Ukraine in light of developments in Turkmenistan. Putin's
answer, endorsing already reached agreements, reassured some,
though evening news commentary noted that the January 4
Russian-Ukrainian gas agreement set the price of Russian gas
to Ukraine at $230/thousand cubic meters, with lower overall
prices dependent on securing cheap Turkmen supplies. The
Cabinet of Ministers Press service reported that PM
Yanukovych held parallel meetings with Gazprom and
RosUkrEnergo (RUE) to discuss energy cooperation and RUE's
development plan.


8. (C) The other side story to the Putin visit was the
ongoing domestic Ukrainian struggle over FM Tarasyuk's
status, in the wake of the December 1 Rada vote for his
dismissal, court decisions reinstating him pending final
appeals, Yushchenko's endorsement of Tarasyuk remaining as
Minister, and concerted coalition efforts to prevent Tarasyuk
from attending weekly cabinet meetings. Despite the desire
by PM Yanukovych's team, endorsed by Presidential Secretariat
Head Baloha, to oust Tarasyuk prior to Putin's visit
(reftel),Yushchenko named Tarasyuk as a member of the
Ukrainian delegation to the Commission talks. Putin, who is
widely believed to have demanded in August 2000 that former
Ukrainian Kuchma fire Tarasyuk as PM for being too
anti-Russian, clinked ceremonial champagne glasses with
Tarasyuk without exchanging words; press reports suggested
that Putin's 90 minute delay in arriving in KYIV was due to
Russian insistence that Tarasyuk not greet Putin upon
arrival, per usual protocol. Both Chaliy and Hryshchenko
told Ambassador after the visit that the issue of Tarasyuk's
status had been put off for a time, because of, as Chaliy put
it, "timing issues." Hryshchenko maintained that Tarasyuk
still must go, but that the President would have to take
action to replace him.


9. (U) Visit Embassy KYIV's classified website:
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev.
Taylor