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Nation    

Biden to meet with top Ukrainian leaders
Journal Staff Report

KIEV, July 20 – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Ukraine on Monday to reassure the country that US efforts to repair relations with Moscow will not come at the expense of support for Russia's ex-Soviet neighbors.

Biden was scheduled to hold talks Tuesday with President Viktor Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and other political leaders before traveling Wednesday to Georgia to meet leaders there.

Briefing journalists in Washington ahead of Biden's departure, one of his top aides summarized the message President Barack Obama's vice president was being sent to Russia's neighbors to deliver.

"Our efforts to reset relations with Russia will not come at the expense of any other country," AFP cited Tony Blinken, national security advisor to the vice president, as saying.

"We will continue to reject the notion of spheres of influence, and we will continue to stand by the principle that sovereign democracies have the right to make their own decisions and choose their own partnerships and alliances."

Analysts say former Eastern-bloc countries, from Georgia to Ukraine to Poland, fear the Obama administration will put its goal of improved relations with Russia before their own relationships.

Those fears were heightened when President Barack Obama visited Moscow earlier this month to formalize anew direction in relations after a long downward spiral in bilateral ties.

Russia has strenuously protested expansion of western influence and bedrock western institutions such as NATO into countries close to its borders and once part of the Soviet Union.

Tensions also remain high since Russian troops in August 2008 pushed deep inside Georgia in a war over its breakaway regions, sparking new fears that Moscow would use force to assert its interest in the former satellite states.

In Moscow, President Obama mentioned the need to respect the sovereignty of Georgia and Ukraine -- both of which have troubled relations with Russia -- but many want him and other senior officials to send even stronger "back off" signals to Moscow.

Biden's two state visits are expected to drive home the message that the United States has not, and will not, abandon Ukraine and Georgia.

Biden will also use his visit to continue to press for more progress on democracy efforts inside both countries, according to Blinken, who said both nations face "the challenge of fulfilling the promise" of their revolutions.

According to a source close the Ukrainian presidency, Kiev is hoping to secure a bilateral deal with the United States containing national security guarantees in connection with the expiry of the Cold War-era START nuclear disarmament treaty at the end of this year.

Energy concerns will also be a topic of discussion in Kiev, where chronic disputes over gas prices with Moscow have interrupted European gas supplies, 80% of which are piped to Europe via Ukraine.

Biden was scheduled to leave Ukraine on Wednesday for Georgia, where he was due to meet President Mikheil Saakashvili and deliver an address to the Georgian parliament. (afp/ez)




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