BUCHAREST, Romania -- Ukraine is seeking consultations with Bucharest and Washington on the proposed deployment of U.S. missile interceptors in Romania, Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko said May 18.
In the context of the steps taken to consolidate security, we think that the aim should be to reinforce security of Europe as a whole and to take into account all political aspects of this issue," Gryshchenko told a press conference in Bucharest.
"We are interested in having consultations with both our Romanian and our American partners," he added.
Ukraine shares a 300-mile border with Romania.
Bucharest and Washington two weeks ago concluded talks on the deployment of 24 missile interceptors in a former airbase in southern Romania, Deveselu.
They insisted they would be part of a purely defensive system.
But the agreement angered Moscow, which said it would seek legal guarantees that the United States does not intend to deploy a missile defense system aimed at its strategic nuclear forces.
On May 18, President Dmitry Medvedev warned the West it would face a new Cold War if it failed to address Russia's concerns over this issue.
Medvedev told reporters that the U.S. decision to push ahead with construction of the defense system despite Russia's objections will force Moscow "to take retaliatory measures - something that we would very much rather not do."
Showing posts with label romania. Show all posts
Showing posts with label romania. Show all posts
Saturday, 21 May 2011
Monday, 25 May 2009
Ukraine Says Romania One Of Its Potential Enemies
KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian Defence Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov lashed out at Romania and Russia in a television show, accusing both countries of making territorial claims on Ukraine, according to reports published by ‘Romania libera’ and ‘Ziua’ on Saturday.
Yekhanurov, who is close to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, said Romania is a potential enemy of Ukraine, as Bucharest politicians frequently question the legality of the current borders of the Ukrainian state, Similarly, Russia questions the statute of Crimea, he said.“Sometimes, even the highest leaders of Romania resort to this kind of statements, recently saying that they do not recognize the border with the Republic of Moldova. These kinds of statements are dangerous, Yekhanurov said. His comments referred to President Traian Basescu’s recent statement that the signing of a border treaty with Moldova would be ‘useless’ as it would mean accepting the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact.The comment has triggered an angry response from Chisinau, but also from Moscow.Yekhanurov moved on the say that Russia is also a great danger to Ukraine’s territorial integrity. “There are questions about Crimea and you know very well that after the August 2008 conflict in the Caucasus, everybody realized that there is a regional security problem here,” he said.The minister underlined however that Ukraine must have friendly relationships with all its neighbours, but must be strong enough “so that nobody ever thinks of attacking their neighbours”.Kiev has repeatedly accused Bucharest of leading a systematically aggressive policy towards its northern neighbour, slamming Romanian plans to grant mass-citizenship to Ukrainians living in Cernauti and Odessa and to ‘brutally’ assimilate the Ukrainian minority in Romania, according to daily ‘Ziua’.Earlier this month, Yushchenko said he was worried about Romania’s plans to grant passports to Ukrainians and asked that the issue be analysed by the European Commission. Recently, Ukraine’s former Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk accused Romania of being guilty for all bilateral conflicts, starting from Bystroye to the expulsion of two Ukrainian diplomats this year, in the wake of an espionage scandal that also involved Kiev.The diplomats were expelled after it was revealed that a Romanian non-commissioned officer was selling classified military information to a Bulgarian spy, who was then re-selling the intelligence to a third party, possibly Ukraine.A military analyst quoted by ‘Romania libera’, Cornel Codita, said that Ukraine’s reaction was triggered by President Basescu’s statements, which generate the perception that Romania is a hostile country because it makes various territorial claims.A specialist in ex-Soviet area issues, Armand Grosu, was quoted by the newspaper as saying that “Ukraine only notices the fact that Romania is an enemy because there are almost evident territorial claims: because it won’t sign the border treaty with Moldova and because it suggests that Ukrainians and Moldovans could swap territories.”Grosu said that the Ukrainian defence minister’s statements were also triggered by “Romania’s incoherent policies”, in spite of the fact it has always supported Ukraine’s accession to NATO.
Yekhanurov, who is close to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, said Romania is a potential enemy of Ukraine, as Bucharest politicians frequently question the legality of the current borders of the Ukrainian state, Similarly, Russia questions the statute of Crimea, he said.“Sometimes, even the highest leaders of Romania resort to this kind of statements, recently saying that they do not recognize the border with the Republic of Moldova. These kinds of statements are dangerous, Yekhanurov said. His comments referred to President Traian Basescu’s recent statement that the signing of a border treaty with Moldova would be ‘useless’ as it would mean accepting the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact.The comment has triggered an angry response from Chisinau, but also from Moscow.Yekhanurov moved on the say that Russia is also a great danger to Ukraine’s territorial integrity. “There are questions about Crimea and you know very well that after the August 2008 conflict in the Caucasus, everybody realized that there is a regional security problem here,” he said.The minister underlined however that Ukraine must have friendly relationships with all its neighbours, but must be strong enough “so that nobody ever thinks of attacking their neighbours”.Kiev has repeatedly accused Bucharest of leading a systematically aggressive policy towards its northern neighbour, slamming Romanian plans to grant mass-citizenship to Ukrainians living in Cernauti and Odessa and to ‘brutally’ assimilate the Ukrainian minority in Romania, according to daily ‘Ziua’.Earlier this month, Yushchenko said he was worried about Romania’s plans to grant passports to Ukrainians and asked that the issue be analysed by the European Commission. Recently, Ukraine’s former Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk accused Romania of being guilty for all bilateral conflicts, starting from Bystroye to the expulsion of two Ukrainian diplomats this year, in the wake of an espionage scandal that also involved Kiev.The diplomats were expelled after it was revealed that a Romanian non-commissioned officer was selling classified military information to a Bulgarian spy, who was then re-selling the intelligence to a third party, possibly Ukraine.A military analyst quoted by ‘Romania libera’, Cornel Codita, said that Ukraine’s reaction was triggered by President Basescu’s statements, which generate the perception that Romania is a hostile country because it makes various territorial claims.A specialist in ex-Soviet area issues, Armand Grosu, was quoted by the newspaper as saying that “Ukraine only notices the fact that Romania is an enemy because there are almost evident territorial claims: because it won’t sign the border treaty with Moldova and because it suggests that Ukrainians and Moldovans could swap territories.”Grosu said that the Ukrainian defence minister’s statements were also triggered by “Romania’s incoherent policies”, in spite of the fact it has always supported Ukraine’s accession to NATO.
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