UKRAINE: PRESIDENTIAL SECRETARIAT ALLEGES

C O N F I D E N T I A L KYIV 001672 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/2017 TAGS: PGOV PHUM UP SUBJECT: UKRAINE: PRESIDENTIAL SECRETARIAT ALLEGES TYMOSHENKO TREASON Classified By: Ambassador, reason 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) Summary and Comment: On August 19, Deputy Presidential Secretariat Head Andriy Kyslynskiy publicly accused PM Tymoshenko of colluding with Russia in exchange for Moscow's support of her expected run for the presidency in 2009/2010. On August 21, acting head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Nalyvaichenko confirmed that documents submitted by the Presidential Secretariat alleged treason on the part of the Prime Minister. Tymoshenko strongly denied the allegations at a press conference, noting she would not respond to "political fiction." During an August 22 meeting with the Ambassador, Presidential advisor Andriy Goncharuk noted he had seen "some documents" that related to a purported Tymoshenko meeting last week in Italy with Russian leaders -- he was unable to provide further details. Deputy Prime Minister Hryhorhiy Nemyria told the Ambassador the charges were part of a systematic attempt by the Secretariat to "attack the PM personally and the Cabinet as an institution" in preparation for the 2009/10 presidential elections, and that if President Yushchenko did not retract the charges the PM would request France call off the September 9 EU-Ukraine Summit. ¶2. (C) Interior Minister Lutsenko has also publicly called for President Yushchenko, who has remained silent on this issue, to speak out. We question the degree to which Yushchenko is involved in this latest round of allegatios, or whether it is being driven by the Presdential Secretariat under Victor Baloha. In either case, however, Yushchenko could stop it if he wanted. The allegations take the political infighting between the President and Prime Minister to a new level -- even if the issue dissapates and no official inquiry is launched, it could represent a serious rupture between Yushchenko and Tymoshenko. If the allegations do result in the Prosecutor General's Office bringing charges we will be entering new political territory. The issue is sure to feature prominently in the 2009 presidential election race. End Summary and Comment. Presidential Secretariat Accuses Tymoshenko of Treason -------------- -------------- ¶3. (U) On August 19, Deputy Presidential Secretariat Head Andriy Kyslynskiy publicly accused PM Tymoshenko's government of colluding with Russia in exchange for its support for her expected run for the presidency in 2009/2010. Kyslynskiy alleged that Tymoshenko was guilty of treason for agreeing to remain passive on the issue of the conflict in Georgia in exchange for Russian support. He claimed that Viktor Medvedchuk, former head of Kuchma's Presidential Administration will run her campaign under the influence of Moscow, and with the help of old colleagues and Party of Regions figures Andriy Kluyev and Dmytro Tabachnyk. In a public statement, Kyslynskiy said that Tymoshenko had passed "the point of no return" and left no room for Ukraine to maneuver in the conflict between Russia and Georgia. He stated his intent to submit the incriminating materials to prosecutors and that Ukrainians were entitled to hear the truth about the "sell-out of some politicians who crossed the line of political struggle and indulged in open betrayal of national interests." ¶4. (U) The SBU press service confirmed on August 21 that it had received documents from the Presidential Secretariat alleging that PM Tymoshenko's government was involved in activities "harmful" to the national interest of Ukraine. The SBU said it would carefully consider the documents in accordance with the law and, if confirmed, it would forward the documents to the Prosecutor General's Office. Acting head of the SBU Nalyvaichenko told reporters that the documents submitted by the Presidential Secretariat allege that the Tymoshenko's government had undermined national interests in regards to Ukraine's defense and security capacity. "(The documents concern) both the temporary basing of military formations in Ukraine and energy security", he told journalists on Thursday. Nalyvaichenko confirmed that the Secretariat had accused Tymoshenko's government under seven counts and that the SBU had begun checking into these allegations. ¶5. (U) Kyslynskiy in separate statements claimed that Russian political circles are trying to "reclaim" what they lost in the 2004 Orange Revolution and that a conference will be held September 4-6 to create a platform for anti-Ukrainian forces similar to the 2004 "Russian Club" that was formed by influential figures to promote Russian interests in the run-up to the presidential elections. He added that it "will soon become clear" if the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT) will join supporters of Russia such as the Communist Party of Ukraine and Progresive Socialist Party of Ukraine. Tymoshenko Denies Allegations -------------- ¶6. (U) On August 20, Tymoshenko strongly denied allegations about collaboration with the Kremlin during a press conference. She told reporters that she would refute the allegations and that the sign at the Presidential Secretariat should be replaced with "Number 6 Hospital Ward", a reference to a nineteenth century Russian novel about a psychiatric hospital. She told reporters that she would not make serious comments about the allegations except that her "position was to be with Ukraine." DPM Nemyria noted that the PM would not react to statements from "technical workers." BYuT MP Anatoliy Semynoga criticized the Presidential Secretariat for having become a body that is "breaking up" the country and "bringing shame" upon it while existing off of its budgetary resources. Oleksandr Zinchenko, an advisor to Tymoshenko, claimed that the Presidential Secretariat has launched an effort to of "forceful overthrow" of the government with its decision to forward the documents to the SBU. ¶7. (U) Hanna Herman of the Party of Regions told the press on August 20 that allegations by the Presidential Secretariat that POR members Dmytro Tabachnyk and Andriy Kluyev were implicated in Tymoshenko's alleged collaboration with the Kremlin was nothing but a attempt to link POR to "bickering" within the orange team. She said that POR has nothing to do with the orange "intrigues" and commented that Tymoshenko's alleged passive stand on the conflict in Georgia was "one of the few smart moves" by her because "as a smart politician she knows how risky it is to get involved in the conflict...." Minister of Interior Lutsenko told the press that President Yushchenko must speak out in regards to allegations against Tymoshenko. Lutsenko felt that it was unacceptable that a deputy head at the Presidential Secretariat could allege that the PM is a traitor and added that the sooner the President speaks out, the better for all concerned. Two Camps React -------------- ¶8. (C) During an August 22 meeting with the Ambassador, Presidential Secretariat Deputy Andriy Goncharuk distanced himself personally from the issue, noting that he'd seen some documents related to Tymoshenko's purported actions, but that he was not directly involved in the process. Without citing details, Goncharuk referenced meetings that Tymoshenko supposedly had in Italy going back to 2001, which involved Viktor Medvechuk and then Prime Minister Berlusconi. ¶9. (C) During a subsequent August 22 meeting, DPM Hryhorhiy Nemyria told the Ambassador that the allegations raised by the Secretariat were part of a series of attempts to smear the PM prior to the elections -- first by questioning her Orthodox faith, then by "playing the Russia card." He understood that President Bush had raised during phone calls with Yushchenko the need to keep domestic stability, and noted that Chancellor Merkel was very concerned by the latest development. The PM had decided not to react further beyond her initial public refutation of the charges, but that if President Yushchenko did not engage and refute the efforts of his staff the PM would contact the French and ask them to call off the September 9 EU-Ukraine Summit. "Rivalry goes to New Level" -------------- ¶10. (C) A respected domestic political analyst, Viktor Nebozhenko, told EmbOff on August 22 that he was surprised by the seriousness of the allegations, which had raised tensions between Yushchenko-Tymoshenko to levels not seen before. Nebozhenko said he had spoken personally with Deputy Presidential Secretariat Kyslynskiy, who told him that he was confident that the allegations against Tymoshenko were well founded and that the Secretariat had to act urgently because of her level of cooperation with Russia. Nebozhenko, who had not passed judgment on the validity of the allegations, indicated that Tymoshenko was alleged to have made agreements during a reported visit to Sardinia, which she publicly denied. Nebozhenko felt that President Yushchenko's silence was odd and may indicate that he wants to distance himself from the events. Nobozhenko expects the President will wait until things settle down or until opening of the Rada in early September. When asked why Tymoshenko had not rebutted the allegations more forcefully, he opined that she may be uncharacteristically at a loss on how to respond to such serious charges. ¶11. (C) Nebozhenko mentioned that it was unusual for a relatively low ranking official to have taken the public lead on the allegations and noted that Tymoshenko's attendance of a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council on the day the allegations were made public seemed like a contradiction to Nebozhenko. He also noted that if the charges were well founded, they would not have been made publicly but would have quickly led to her being arrested. He believes that the review of the charges will take a long time and that the Rada will likely form a commission to investigate. He believed that this will cause more political instability in the short term, which Moscow try to use for its advantage. In the long term, even if Yushchenko and Tymoshenko resolve the matter quietly, neither one will soon forget and the allegations are bound to play a central role during the upcoming presidential elections. ¶12. (U) Visit Embassy Kyiv's classified website: www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev. TAYLOR