    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
    [April 4, 2005]
    [Pages 555-557]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Joint Statement by President George W. Bush and President Viktor
    Yushchenko of Ukraine
    April 4, 2005

    A New Century Agenda for the Ukrainian-American Strategic Partnership

        Today, the United States and Ukraine affirm a new era of strategic
    partnership between our nations and friendship between our peoples. We
    commit our nations to working together to advance freedom and security
    grounded in democratic principles and institutions, which form the
    foundation of our relationship.
        We salute the people of Ukraine who claimed their right to elect
    freely their leadership. Their brave stand was a victory for democracy
    inspiring those throughout the world who yearn for freedom and dignity
    in the face of tyranny, isolation and oppression. The territorial
    integrity, security, and political and economic transformation of
    Ukraine are essential to building a Europe whole, free and at peace. We
    will work together to strengthen democratic institutions in Ukraine and
    to advance freedom in Europe, its neighborhood and beyond.

        We will work to defeat terrorism wherever it occurs and to advance
    economic development, democratic reforms and peaceful settlement of
    regional disputes. We are grateful to the men and women of those nations
    who have served and sacrificed for Iraqi freedom. Today, we pledge
    ourselves anew to assist the Iraqi people to secure liberty, peace and
    prosperity, and we join our efforts to assist Iraq in its economic
    reconstruction. Fear and resentment, the breeding ground of terrorism,
    must be replaced with freedom and hope.

        We also commit to work together to back reform, democracy, tolerance
    and respect for all communities, and peaceful resolution of conflicts in
    Georgia and Moldova, and

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    to support the advance of freedom in countries such as Belarus and Cuba.
    Citizens in our open societies value the freedom to practice their
    faiths, and we are committed to promoting religious tolerance globally.
        As Ukraine undertakes far-reaching reform at home, it can count on
    the United States for support. We applaud Ukraine's commitment to curb
    corruption, promote the rule of law and improve the business climate.
    Progress on reforms will allow Ukraine to realize its aspirations to
    move closer to, and ultimately join European, Euro-Atlantic and
    international institutions.
        We will further integrate Ukraine into the world economy and promote
    investment and trade between our two countries. As a first step, the
    Ukrainian Government seeks expeditious U.S. recognition as a market
    economy. We agree to continue our close cooperation to ensure a process
    that recognizes the evolution of Ukraine's economy.
        We are committed to working together to achieve Ukraine's accession
    to the World Trade Organization (WTO). For its part, the Ukrainian
    Government will seek to secure, on an urgent basis, approval of
    legislation and enact regulations that will facilitate accession and
    contribute to lasting economic reform, including in agriculture,
    manufacturing, services and the protection and enforcement of
    intellectual property rights. The United States and Ukraine are
    committed to working together to complete our bilateral negotiations for
    Ukraine's accession to the WTO in 2005. We will also cooperate on the
    outstanding multilateral work that must be concluded for Ukraine's WTO
    accession. We also support immediately ending application of Jackson-
    Vanik to Ukraine.
        The United States supports Ukraine's NATO aspirations and is
    prepared to help Ukraine achieve its goals by providing assistance with
    challenging reforms. The United States supports an offer of an
    Intensified Dialogue on membership issues with Ukraine at the meeting of
    Alliance Foreign Ministers in Vilnius, Lithuania later this month. Our
    cooperation will also deepen through the U.S.-led, largest-ever NATO
    trust fund to destroy obsolete and excess weaponry.
        We are initiating an energy dialogue to cooperate in the
    restructuring and reform of Ukraine's energy sector to encourage
    investment, diversify Ukraine's energy supplies, reduce its energy
    dependence, bolster commercial competition in Eurasian energy sectors
    and promote nuclear safety. To advance this dialogue, we are
    establishing an Energy consultative mechanism between our Energy
    Ministries. United States Secretary of Energy Bodman will travel to Ukraine in the near future to initiate the
    consultative mechanism and to promote our energy and nonproliferation
    cooperation.
        Building on our cooperation through the G-8 Global Partnership, the
    Cooperative Threat Reduction Program and the Proliferation Security
    Initiative, we pledge to begin a new chapter in the fight against the
    proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of
    delivery. We will deepen our cooperation on nonproliferation, export
    controls, border security and law enforcement to deter, detect,
    interdict, investigate and prosecute illicit trafficking of these
    weapons and related materials; enhance the security of nuclear and
    radiological sources; and dispose of spent nuclear fuel. We also agree
    on the importance of addressing the growing threat posed by the
    proliferation of ballistic missiles. In this regard, we will explore how
    we can work together on missile defense, including beginning
    negotiations on a framework to facilitate such cooperation and closer
    industry-to-industry collaboration.
        The security and stability of nations increasingly depends on the
    health, well-being and prosperity of their citizens. We therefore commit
    to cooperate on a broad agenda of social and humanitarian issues,
    including halting the spread of HIV/AIDS

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    and TB; fighting the scourge of organized crime, trafficking in persons
    and child pornography; and completing the Chornobyl Shelter
    Implementation Plan. To help complete the Chornobyl Shelter, the United
    States will provide an additional $45 million to the Shelter Fund.
    Ukraine will also provide an additional financial contribution and
    facilitate prompt completion of the Shelter. U.S. assistance to Ukraine
    will particularly focus on solidifying democratic advances through anti-
    corruption and rule of law programs, media and NGO development,
    nonpartisan party and election monitor training and other steps to
    improve electoral institutions and practices.
        We also support a bold expansion of contact between our societies.
    To this end, Ukraine will eliminate visa requirements for Americans, and
    the United States will reduce visa fees for Ukrainians. We aim to
    enhance citizen exchanges, training opportunities and cooperation
    between business communities of both countries.
        We commit our two nations to stand together as global partners for
    freedom, security and prosperity in the 21st century.

    Note: An original was not available for verification of the content of
    this joint statement.