-Caveat Lector- Cohen Offers U.S. Aid to Ukraine By VIKTOR LUHOVYK .c The Associated Press PARTENIT, Ukraine (AP) - The United States and Ukraine agreed Saturday to extend for another six years a program helping the former Soviet republic dismantle its ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons infrastructure. Visiting Defense Secretary William Cohen also promised aid to Ukraine to fund its peacekeeping contingent for Kosovo. Cohen announced the extension of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, saying the decision testified to Ukraine's commitment to nuclear disarmament and the two countries' growing ties. ``We already have more than 100 separate programs and our relationship continues to expand,'' Cohen told reporters. Ukraine inherited the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, but pledged to become nuclear-free. It surrendered all its nuclear warheads to Russia, and was left with 130 SS-19 missiles, 46 SS-24 missiles and more than 40 Tu-160s and Tu-95 MC strategic bombers. The United States has contributed more than $500 million under the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program to help Ukraine dismantle the weapons. The program was initiated in 1991 to promote nuclear disarmament in the former Soviet Union. The Ukrainian part was slated to expire in 2000. Ukraine has destroyed all of its SS-19 missiles and their launch silos, one SS-24 silo and one bomber under the program. But observers say cash-poor Ukraine has been lagging in destroying the rest of its nuclear arsenal because of money problems, prompting the six-year extension. Cohen arrived on Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula of Crimea for a whirlwind visit Saturday. He traveled to Foros, a resort where President Leonid Kuchma was vacationing. The defense secretary's convoy stopped to pay respects to a memorial to British soldiers killed in the Crimean War of the 1850s. Last month, Kuchma and parliament approved the deployment of up to 800 soldiers in Kosovo. Kuchma said at the time that NATO had agreed to finance the soldiers' transportation and housing costs while Ukraine would pay their salaries. On Saturday, Cohen said: ``We intend to contribute to a peacekeeping effort on the part of Ukraine. We will seek contribution from other NATO countries.'' Presidential spokesman Oleksandr Martynenko quoted Cohen as saying that financial details would be worked out during an upcoming visit by the alliance's deputy commander of armed forces in Europe. Cohen's meeting with Kuchma also touched upon bilateral military cooperation, nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction and military reform. ``The Ukrainian armed forces are undergoing a complicated process of reform and the assistance of the U.S. defense ministry is very important for us,'' Ukrainian news reports quoted Kuchma as saying. In meetings with Kuchma, Kuzmuk and other officials, Cohen also promised further assistance to Ukraine in military training, in particular peacekeepers, Martynenko said. Cohen also met with Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksandr Kuzmuk during a separate meeting near Partenit, a village 60 miles from the port of Sevastopol. Cohen's visit to Ukraine was part of a tour that also included visits to Japan and South Korea. He left Saturday evening for the former Soviet republic of Georgia, the final leg of his trip. Cohen last visited Ukraine in July 1997. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
