Russia's Medvedev begins Ukraine visit
By Brian Whitmore
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has arrived in Ukraine for a two-day visit in which he will seek to further strengthen the relationship between the two countries.
Young Ukrainian women in folk dress greeted a smiling Medvedev as he stepped off his plane in Kyiv today.
Under a torrential rain, Medvedev and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych paid their respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Kyiv's Park of Glory and attended a ceremony to victims of the Great Famine of 1932-33.
Both joked about the downpour later. Yanukovych said rain always brought money, while Medvedev took an apparent swipe at Ukraine's former pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko, saying, It's very good to start things with a clean slate. I'm referring to some difficult pages in our relationship in recent years. I hope this rain washed away everything negative that was done in the previous period."
Medvedev and Yanukovych were expected to sign accords on border demarcation, satellite navigation, and banking. They are also expected to discuss the conflict in Moldova's separatist Transdniester province, which borders Ukraine, as well as further cooperation in the energy sector and European security.
Ties between Russia and Ukraine have improved markedly since the pro-Moscow Yanukovych was elected in February, after years of confrontation under Yushchenko.
Yanukovych reversed Yushchenko's policy of seeking NATO membership, which had infuriated Moscow. He also extended the lease of the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine's port of Sevastopol until 2042 in return for cheaper gas -- a move that angered his political opponents.
But Yanukovych has also indicated that there are limits to the thaw. He has been cool to a proposal from Moscow for a merger between Ukraine's energy holding Naftohaz and Russia's state-controlled gas giant Gazprom.
Yanukovych has suggested the European Union should be involved in any merger talks and has insisted that Naftohaz be an equal partner of Gazprom. "Fifty-50 -- that would be the only way," he told journalists on May 13.
'With All Due Respect'
In a televised interview ahead of his visit, Medvedev appeared to back off the idea of a merger, which was proposed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, saying "it would be probably quite difficult for our Ukrainian partners and our operations in general."
Medvedev noted the relative values of the two companies as an obstacle.
"[A merger] would require very accurate calculations. I will remind you that Gazprom is worth between $150 billion, at the lowest estimate, and $200 billion, at the highest estimate," he said. "Naftohaz, with all due respect, costs a little less."
Medvedev nevertheless said he favored deeper cooperation between Gazprom and Naftohaz.
"If we speak about joint projects, joint ventures bringing together various gas and gas transit assets -- not through a direct merger but the unification, let's say, of individual units," he said, "I think it is quite possible, and it is possible on a mutually beneficial basis with due account of the wishes of the parties."
Yanukovych is eager to retain control of Naftohaz's pipeline network, which serves as a conduit for 80 percent of Russian gas supplies to the EU. He says he favors the creation of a consortium involving the European Union as well as Russia to modernize Ukraine's aging pipeline network.
The Ukrainian nationalist group Svoboda held a small demonstration near the city center in protest at what it said was the sell-out of the country's sovereignty to Russia.
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