    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [May 16, 1997]
    [Pages 610-612]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Prior to Discussions With President Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine and
    an Exchange With Reporters
    May 16, 1997

        President Clinton. Let me say, I'm delighted to have President
    Kuchma back at the White House. He and the Vice President have worked
    hard today. They've made a lot of progress on economic issues and on
    security issues, and I'm quite encouraged by the report I have received
    and quite hopeful about our future partnership with Ukraine and
    Ukraine's role in a united, democratic Europe.

    NATO

        Q. President Kuchma, are you interested in having Ukraine join NATO
    as a formal member?
        President Kuchma. First of all, I understand the situation nowadays
    in Europe, and I'm well aware of the configuration of political forces.
    And I understand that Ukrainian application to NATO would not be timely,
    though Ukraine has proclaimed its aim to integrate with European and
    transatlantic structures.

    [[Page 611]]

        Q. President Clinton, President Yeltsin seems to have a pretty
    different interpretation of the charter, the NATO charter with Russia,
    than what was described here. Is that the way you read what he's been
    saying and his advisers have been saying?
        President Clinton. I think that the agreement is clear and will be
    clear from the details as they're published. And I also believe it's a
    good agreement for NATO and a good agreement for Russia. And let me
    further say I hope now that the Russian Duma will proceed to ratify
    START II because it's very much in Russia's interest as well as the
    United States and in the interest of world peace. It will enable us to
    go on to START III, which will reduce the nuclear arsenals 80 percent
    from their cold war high and relieve Russia of an enormous financial
    burden while maintaining its strategic interests.

    [At this point, one group of reporters left the room, and another group
    entered.]

        President Clinton. I am delighted to have President Kuchma back in
    the White House. The United States values its partnership with Ukraine
    and believes that we cannot have a successful, undivided, democratic
    Europe without a successful, democratic, progressive Ukraine. And I
    appreciate the hard work that President Kuchma and Vice President Gore
    have done in their commission all day and the results they have
    achieved, which they will announce, I think, at a press conference.
        President Kuchma. It was a pleasure for me to hear the words by
    President Clinton, that European security is impossible without a
    prosperous Ukraine and an independent Ukraine. In fact, this was the
    thrust, the direction of the efforts of the Vice President and my
    efforts. And I should say that we spared no efforts.

    Summit of the Eight

        Q. How do you think--will Ukraine take part in the discussion of the
    Chernobyl issue in the summit of G-7 in Denver in some form--maybe in a
    conference, in another form?
        Vice President Gore. It will be a subject of discussion among the
    eight.
        President Clinton. I don't know the answer to that, I'm sorry to
    say, but I know that it will be a subject of our discussions because all
    of the seven have made clear their commitment for years to helping
    Ukraine to come to grips with Chernobyl and the aftermath and making
    sure that consequences can be dealt with and also that the country has
    the supplies necessary and energy to grow and to prosper.

    NATO

        Q. Mr. President, aren't there reasons to fear that Ukraine might
    fear that a NATO-Russian agreement might divide Europe into spheres of
    influence?
        President Clinton. No, quite the contrary. The argument that I made
    to President Yeltsin when we met at Helsinki was that we had to create a
    united Europe and that we should not view the mission of NATO in the
    future as we viewed the mission of NATO in the past. We have to create a
    world in the 21st century where people do not define their greatness by
    their ability to dominate their neighbors but instead define their
    greatness by their ability to maximize the achievements of their own
    citizens and band together with others to defeat common problems like
    terrorism and weapons proliferation.
        You can see that in the partnership that NATO has had with both
    Ukraine and Russia in Bosnia. All people who want to be free and who
    want their neighbors to be free have an interest in banding together to
    fight problems like that.

    Note: The President spoke at 4:34 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to President Boris Yeltsin of Russia.
    A tape was not available for verification of the content of these
    remarks.

    [[Page 612]]