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Kostiantyn Yelisieiev

Thank you sincerely. Dear friends, dear colleagues, first of all, it is a great honour for me to speak at this forum, in the circle, I would say, of the Patriarchs of Ukrainian diplomacy; among known politicians; among distinguished ambassadors. I would like to congratulate all of you and also to add something, to make a contribution to our interesting discussions.

At the beginning, I would like to thank the organisers for choosing this subject and I am pleased that despite our internal peripeteia, we still try to think more globally. We will try to think more strategically, and this is very good.

Of course, Mr. Yatsenyuk has set the tone for these discussions.  I would just extend the line he started and maybe reveal some details in terms of practice.

First of all, we face challenges in developing our new foreign policy.  In fact, all foreign policy staffs work in this background of certain challenges.  They have already been identified. In particular, I reiterate: a global financial and economic crisis and the issues associated with the search for a new security model in the world and in Europe.  The first example of this is that now even NATO is working on its own new strategic concept. Also, of course, there are issues associated with climate changes on everybody's lips.  There are environmental challenges, and there is an environmental crisis as well.  Even today the Copenhagen Summit takes place.  Not of any less importance to Ukraine are energy security and the energy crisis.

These factors all affect Ukraine. On the one hand, we, of course, suffer from these crises.  On the other hand, it also shows once more that no one in this world can feel isolated from the economic or any other crisis. We all live in one house and we must all work together in order to find effective responses.

Of course, new formats for relations are forming now, as well as new groups of countries.  You know that there is now a new group: instead of the Great Eight, the Great Twenty has been created.  Countries are trying to seek out a broader format for more effective ways to respond to current challenges.

As for Ukraine, we also are gradually becoming involved in these processes.  On the one hand, there is an awareness of the importance of the role of Ukraine; on the other hand, I once again emphasize, the realisation that that there are no large or small partners.  We are all important to one another.

In particular, the first example of the fact that Ukraine is actively involved in these processes became apparent at a recent summit:  "Ukraine - EU", held on December 4 in Kiev. For the first time the global issues of world development, climate, the energy sector and the global crisis were part of the agenda of our work. Of course, it is a very important matter for Ukraine.  For example, with the energy crisis, all should understand that a great responsibility lies not only on the transit countries, and not only on countries that produce natural gas or hydrogen carbonate, but also on suppliers. And it is very good that during the summit, finally, the European Union realised the formula, that only in a single team, only together, can we find answers to these challenges. I’d like to note that at the beginning of the year the energy crisis could not be solved for a long time. For too long the European Union refused to recognise also its role and involvement in these processes. Most of the time they tried to shift the responsibility to Russia or Ukraine. And it is very good that at the summit this was identified and confirmed by the delegation. It was clearly declared - we must all work as a team.

The next question is the issue of climate changes. There are challenges for all our nations here. I would like now to address the results of the Copenhagen Summit.  As I understand it, unfortunately, conclusions and positive expectations are not yet justified. We'll hope that ways will be found to resolve issues related to the reduction of carbon emissions, etc.

We, the Ukrainian side, are not any less concerned about the issue related to the security situation in Europe and the world. Ukraine is especially concerned about that, because, unfortunately, today Ukraine is in a security vacuum. You know, on one hand, there is NATO expansion; on the other hand there, is the so-called Collective Security Treaty Organisation. In this case, essentially, Ukraine is between two large groups. Add to this the fact that Ukraine has voluntarily renounced nuclear weapons, and in fact, has disarmed itself.   Draw conclusions for yourself.

Of course, there are great challenges before Ukrainian diplomacy – how to ensure the reliability of Ukrainian state security by foreign policy mechanisms. I would not like to brag, but I would say that the first steps in this direction have already been made. Here is a concrete example: we are now having very active dialogue concerning the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.  For the first time in the legal practice of the European Union, we included into the text of the agreement a separate article, which provides, essentially, political security guarantees from the European Union. It is about the introduction of a political mechanism: consultations, cooperation in the case of calls, in the case of threats to territorial integrity, sovereignty, and political independence of the Ukrainian state. For a very long time we have been going towards this; but it is very good that this formula is reflected in the text of the draft agreement.

We are also working together with our NATO partners in order to have Ukrainian interests taken into account in the new strategic concept of NATO.   In this regard, I would like to tell you that on December 3 we officially handed over to the NATO Secretary General our offers about this concept.

In addition, we are working with our key strategic partners, particularly with the United States. During the recent visit of the Minister, we discussed the first ideas on how we could strengthen those security guarantees that were given to Ukraine in 1994 in the context of the Budapest Memorandum. The Budapest Memorandum was good, but we would like to have the Budapest Memorandum "Plus". It is clear for everybody that those guarantees which were provided, as practice has shown, did not prove effective. Therefore, we would like to work in the format of other partner countries, the so-called "nuclear" states, in a bilateral format with our key partners.

A new element has been implemented lately in our foreign policy.   We have tried to establish a close direct relationship with key players in world politics. I have already mentioned here the United States.  Certainly, we are working now with the Russian Federation too. Here I would like to repeat this notion that balanced, good-neighbourly and equal relations with Russia are an integral part of the European policy of Ukraine. Without implementation of this premise, I think, it is useless for us to talk about the success of our integration, particularly, into the European Union.

Furthermore, we have established relationships and strong contacts with world leaders. A concrete example, in particular, is Brazil, a very powerful player now, especially in the economic sphere.   As you know, on December 1-2 a very important, perhaps an historic, visit by the President of Brazil to Ukraine occurred.  We have established strategic partnerships, specifically outlined cooperation from agriculture to space exploration, outlined military-technical cooperation and cooperation in interpersonal contacts, as well as set a visa-free regime.  I think that similar initiatives with other key partners are not far off, especially with the G20 countries .

I am grateful to Mr. Yatsenyuk for mentioning the so-called food crisis. Indeed, dear colleagues, let's not forget – it disappeared from the newspapers, but it remains. In this regard, I also see a significant role for Ukraine in helping to alleviate the negative effects of the food crisis. You know that this year, in particular, for the first time Ukraine became a donor to the UN food organisation.

Furthermore, according to unofficial estimates of the FAO, Ukraine, in principle, can provide food products and feed more than 300 million people. This is more than 50% of the citizens of the European Union. I say this deliberately, to show once again that no matter how much the European Union would separate from Ukraine, sooner or later they must understand that without Ukraine they can not speak about a competitive European house, about a competitive prosperous European Union. That is why the European Union should think about Ukraine in terms of positive categories: “euro-optimism” rather than “euro-pessimism”. I think that the recognition of this is not far away. There will be a recognition that we do not only share a common history and common values, but we have a common European identity.

Unfortunately, the summit which took place did not confirm that European identity, yet. I say "unfortunately" because it was very surprising to hear from our European partners that they still can not recognise the European identity of the Ukrainian state.  We will continue to work hard to convince  the summit that Ukraine provides a real chance not only for the EU, but also for the whole continent to build an indivisible united Europe.  Here is where the question of visas arise, as well as security.  Security can be either for all, or for no one. Putting up  new Berlin Walls – either visa, or safety – is not constructive. We have to take into account the negative experience of the Cold War, and the negative experience of the confrontation period. I would not like to abuse your attention.  I would like to thank you sincerely for your interest and will be ready to answer questions, if necessary. Once again, I’m grateful for the attention. Thank you.

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