KIEV, May 17 – Ukraine on Monday backed Moscow’s global security initiative, which calls for adopting legally binding commitments to ensure a “space of stability” covering the territory from North America, Europe to Russia.

The initiative was earlier suggested by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, but had been lukewarmly received by NATO. Ukraine now becomes one of the few countries that have actually supported the idea.

The development underscores a foreign policy switch by President Viktor Yanukovych away from his pro-Western predecessor Viktor Yushchenko’s push to secure a quick accession to NATO as a primary security task.

“The Russian Federation and Ukraine support building a harmonious world order indispensable part of which must be a single space of security and stability from Vancouver to Vladivostok,” reads a statement from Medvedev and Yanukovych.

“The parties will be promoting detailed consideration of the Russian president’s initiative for signing the European security treaty,” the statement said.

The development is a political victory for Russia, which has been using its regional power and resources to try to force its pro-Western neighbours to change their foreign policy courses towards greater cooperation with Moscow.

Over the past five years Russia has three times cut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine, two times cut oil supplies to Belarus and Lithuania, and went ahead with a direct military incursion into Georgia in August 2008.

These moves have inflicted major instability in the region and perfectly illustrate the challenges that the countries face in the region.

Yanukovych, who was elected in February on a platform of improving cooperation with Russia, has already made a drastic foreign policy step that may be tilting security balance in the region.

Less than two months into his presidency, Yanukovych signed an agreement with Medvedev extending the stationing of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol by 25 years through 2042 in exchange for a 30% discount on gas prices over the next 10 years.

Yanukovych also postponed indefinitely Ukraine’s accretion to NATO, and said the country will now pursue a neutrality status.

“We must together make the European continent a zone of peace and prosperity for all countries, big and small, members and non-members of military alliances,” Yanukovych said.

“It’s important to note that new forms of cooperation in security issues may become an example for other countries,” Yanukovych said.

This was the seventh meeting between Yanukovych and Medvedev over the past 73 days, a pace that even the Ukrainian president said was too high, and should probably slow down.

“We came to conclusion that one cannot work like that,” Yanukovych said at a press conference. “Seven meetings over such a short period of time forced officials into a situation that they have to prepare different decisions in an accelerated way.”

But Medvedev quickly countered the comment.

“Viktor Fedorovych [Ynukovych] says one cannot work like that,” Medvedev said. “I simply wanted to add that we’ll have to work like that.” (tl/ez)