2
1. Introduction and overview of the paper
Relations between states are affected by many factors. Ten years after the collapse of the
USSR, relations between Russia and Ukraine continue to be influenced by the process and
shape of their mutual transition to a post-communist future as well as the external
environment in which they operate as newly independent states struggling to define their
post-Soviet identity. Relations between Russia and Ukraine have reached a qualitatively
new level during the last few years. This is the culmination of a process that began in 2000
when the President of Ukraine replaced the pro-Western Borys Tarasyuk with a new foreign
minister Anatoliy Zlenko. Kuchma later explained that the change in personnel was
necessary to improve relations with the Russian Federation.
1
This improvement has been
further accelerated by the interplay of political developments in both states. President Putin
elected on a platform of restoring order, has moved to centralise the Russian state in an
attempt to create stability, restore Russian power and create a market economy.
2
In order to
achieve these objectives Putin has pursued a pragmatic policy towards its neighbours, in
particular Ukraine that has been devoid of much of its imperial baggage. Many contentious
issues remain unresolved, but there is clear evidence of a normalisation in relations
between these two states.
3
Russia has begun to come to terms with an independent
Ukrainian state on its borders and develop a coherent policy towards Kiev.
4
Similarly,
domestic political developments in Ukraine have created an enabling environment for better
relations. The damage to President Kuchma’s international and domestic standing by the
‘Kuchmagate’ scandal led to Ukraine’s strategic reorientation towards the East and greater
co-operation with its larger neighbour. The release of secret tape recordings allegedly from
the President’s Cabinet led to Kuchma being accused by the opposition of having
1
This point is made by Valeriy Chaly, Mikhail Pahkov, ‘Foreign Policy for Domestic use’, Zerkalo
Nedeli, 45/420 23 November 2002.
2
M A Smith, ‘Putin’s Regime: Administered Democracy’, Conflict Studies Research Centre, June 2000;
also see M A Smith, ‘The Putin Presidency: Establishing Superpresidentialism’, Conflict Studies
Research Centre, February 2002.
3
For a discussion of this process see Arkady Moshes, ‘Russian-Ukrainian Rapprochement of 2002,
How Viable’, Security Dialogue, 33/2, June 2002, pp.157-170.
Convention