[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 14 (Monday, April 11, 2005)]
[Pages 557-558]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Joint Statement by President
George W. Bush and President Viktor Yushchenko

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 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

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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 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.