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Skriven 2005-04-04 23:33:06 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0504041) for Mon, 2005 Apr 4
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A New Century Agenda for the Ukrainian-American Strategic Partnership:
Joint Statement by President George W. Bush and President Viktor Yushchenko
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 4, 2005

A New Century Agenda for the Ukrainian-American Strategic Partnership:
Joint Statement by President George W. Bush and President Viktor Yushchenko



A NEW CENTURY AGENDA FOR THE UKRAINIAN-AMERICAN STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP:
JOINT STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH AND PRESIDENT VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO

Today, the United States and Ukraine affirm a new era of strategic
partnership between our nations and friendship between our peoples. We
commit our nations to working together to advance freedom and security
grounded in democratic principles and institutions, which form the
foundation of our relationship.

We salute the people of Ukraine who claimed their right to elect freely
their leadership. Their brave stand was a victory for democracy inspiring
those throughout the world who yearn for freedom and dignity in the face of
tyranny, isolation and oppression. The territorial integrity, security, and
political and economic transformation of Ukraine are essential to building
a Europe whole, free and at peace. We will work together to strengthen
democratic institutions in Ukraine and to advance freedom in Europe, its
neighborhood and beyond.

We will work to defeat terrorism wherever it occurs and to advance economic
development, democratic reforms and peaceful settlement of regional
disputes. We are grateful to the men and women of those nations who have
served and sacrificed for Iraqi freedom. Today, we pledge ourselves anew to
assist the Iraqi people to secure liberty, peace and prosperity, and we
join our efforts to assist Iraq in its economic reconstruction. Fear and
resentment, the breeding ground of terrorism, must be replaced with freedom
and hope.

We also commit to work together to back reform, democracy, tolerance and
respect for all communities, and peaceful resolution of conflicts in
Georgia and Moldova, and to support the advance of freedom in countries
such as Belarus and Cuba. Citizens in our open societies value the freedom
to practice their faiths, and we are committed to promoting religious
tolerance globally.

As Ukraine undertakes far-reaching reform at home, it can count on the
United States for support. We applaud Ukraine's commitment to curb
corruption, promote the rule of law and improve the business climate.
Progress on reforms will allow Ukraine to realize its aspirations to move
closer to, and ultimately join European, Euro-Atlantic and international
institutions.

We will further integrate Ukraine into the world economy and promote
investment and trade between our two countries. As a first step, the
Ukrainian Government seeks expeditious U.S. recognition as a market
economy. We agree to continue our close cooperation to ensure a process
that recognizes the evolution of Ukraine's economy.

We are committed to working together to achieve Ukraine's accession to the
World Trade Organization (WTO). For its part, the Ukrainian Government will
seek to secure, on an urgent basis, approval of legislation and enact
regulations that will facilitate accession and contribute to lasting
economic reform, including in agriculture, manufacturing, services and the
protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights. The United
States and Ukraine are committed to working together to complete our
bilateral negotiations for Ukraine's accession to the WTO in 2005. We will
also cooperate on the outstanding multilateral work that must be concluded
for Ukraine's WTO accession. We also support immediately ending application
of Jackson-Vanik to Ukraine.

The United States supports Ukraine's NATO aspirations and is prepared to
help Ukraine achieve its goals by providing assistance with challenging
reforms. The United States supports an offer of an Intensified Dialogue on
membership issues with Ukraine at the meeting of Alliance Foreign Ministers
in Vilnius, Lithuania later this month. Our cooperation will also deepen
through the U.S.-led, largest-ever NATO trust fund to destroy obsolete and
excess weaponry.

We are initiating an energy dialogue to cooperate in the restructuring and
reform of Ukraine's energy sector to encourage investment, diversify
Ukraine's energy supplies, reduce its energy dependence, bolster commercial
competition in Eurasian energy sectors and promote nuclear safety. To
advance this dialogue, we are establishing an Energy consultative mechanism
between our Energy Ministries. United States Secretary of Energy Bodman
will travel to Ukraine in the near future to initiate the consultative
mechanism and to promote our energy and nonproliferation cooperation.

Building on our cooperation through the G-8 Global Partnership, the
Cooperative Threat Reduction Program and the Proliferation Security
Initiative, we pledge to begin a new chapter in the fight against the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.
We will deepen our cooperation on nonproliferation, export controls, border
security and law enforcement to deter, detect, interdict, investigate and
prosecute illicit trafficking of these weapons and related materials;
enhance the security of nuclear and radiological sources; and dispose of
spent nuclear fuel. We also agree on the importance of addressing the
growing threat posed by the proliferation of ballistic missiles. In this
regard, we will explore how we can work together on missile defense,
including beginning negotiations on a framework to facilitate such
cooperation and closer industry-to-industry collaboration.

The security and stability of nations increasingly depends on the health,
well-being and prosperity of their citizens. We therefore commit to
cooperate on a broad agenda of social and humanitarian issues, including
halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and TB; fighting the scourge of organized
crime, trafficking in persons and child pornography; and completing the
Chornobyl Shelter Implementation Plan. To help complete the Chornobyl
Shelter, the United States will provide an additional $45 million to the
Shelter Fund. Ukraine will also provide an additional financial
contribution and facilitate prompt completion of the Shelter. U.S.
assistance to Ukraine will particularly focus on solidifying democratic
advances through anti-corruption and rule of law programs, media and NGO
development, nonpartisan party and election monitor training and other
steps to improve electoral institutions and practices.

We also support a bold expansion of contact between our societies. To this
end, Ukraine will eliminate visa requirements for Americans, and the United
States will reduce visa fees for Ukrainians. We aim to enhance citizen
exchanges, training opportunities and cooperation between business
communities of both countries.

We commit our two nations to stand together as global partners for freedom,
security and prosperity in the 21st century.

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