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RUEHKV/AMEMBASSY KYIV IMMEDIATE 0279
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 USNATO 000573 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/03/2019 
TAGS: OVIP STEINBERG JAMES PREL NATO UP RS
SUBJECT: (U) DEPUTY SECRETARY STEINBERG'S DECEMBER 3, 2009, 
PARTICIPATION IN THE NATO-UKRAINE COMMISSION 
 
¶1.  (U)  Classified by:  Amy Scanlon, D(S) Special Assistant, 
Department of State. Reason 1.4.(d) 
 
¶2.  (U)  December 4, 2009; 3:30 p.m.; Brussels, Belgium. 
 
¶3.  (U) Participants: 
 
U.S. 
Deputy Secretary Steinberg 
Ambassador Ivo Daalder 
A/S Phil Gordon, EUR 
Amy Scanlon, D(S) Special Assistant 
Alejandro Baez (Notetaker) 
 
Ukraine 
Foreign Minister Petro Poroshenko 
Ambassador Ihor Sagach 
 
NATO 
Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen 
Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, Chairman of the NATO Military 
Committee 
 
NATO Allies 
Albania: Illir Meta, Foreign Minister 
Belgium: Steven Vanackere, Foreign Minister 
Bulgaria: Todor Churov, Permanent Representative to NATO 
Canada: Yves Brodeur, Assistant Deputy Minister of Foreign 
Affairs 
Croatia: Gordan Jandrokovic, Foreign Minister 
Czech Republic: Jan Kohout, Foreign Minister 
Denmark: Per Stig Moller, Foreign Minister 
Estonia: Urmas Paet, Foreign Minister 
France: Pascale Andreani, Permanent Representative to NATO 
Germany: Ulrich Brandenburg, Permanent Representative to NATO 
Greece: Dimitrios Droutsas, Alternate Foreign Minister 
Hungary: Peter Balazs, Foreign Minister 
Iceland: Thorsteinn Ingolfsson, Permanent Representative to 
NATO 
Italy: Stefano Stefanini, Permanent Representative to NATO 
Latvia: Maris Riekstins, Foreign Minister 
Lithuania: Evaldas Ignatavicius, Vice-Minister of Foreign 
Affairs 
Luxembourg: Jean Asselborn, Foreign Minister 
Netherlands: Maxime Verhagen, Foreign Minister 
Norway: Jonas Gahr Store, Foreign Minister 
Poland: Radoslaw Sikorski, Foreign Minister 
Portugal: Luis Amado, Foreign Minister 
Romania: Sorin Ducaru, Permanent Representative to NATO 
Slovakia: Miroslav Lajcak, Foreign Minister 
Slovenia: Samuel Zbogar, Foreign Minister 
Spain: Miguel Angel Moratinos Cuyaube, Foreign Minister 
Turkey: Ahmet Davutoglu, Foreign Minister 
UK: Stewart Eldon, Permanent Representative to NATO 
 
 
¶4.  (C/NF) SUMMARY. Ukrainian FM Poroshenko told Allies that 
Kyiv was taking pragmatic and realistic steps toward its goal 
of NATO membership and that it was pleased with the results 
of its first Annual National Program.  Poroshenko announced 
that Ukraine intended to triple its contribution to the 
NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) 
operation in Afghanistan.  He also said that Ukraine was 
taking a more pragmatic stance in its relationship with 
Russia and was working to ensure the security of energy 
supplies transiting its territory.  Poroshenko said he hoped 
Ukraine could contribute to the discussions informing the 
development of NATO's new Strategic Concept.  Poroshenko 
expressed thanks for Allied and partner support during 
Ukraine's recent H1N1 crisis. 
 
¶5. (C/NF) SUMMARY CONTINUED.  Allies reaffirmed their support 
for the Bucharest Summit decision that Ukraine would someday 
become a member of NATO, but stressed that Ukraine needed to 
carry out significant reforms in order to meet NATO's 
performance-based standards.  Secretary General Rasmussen 
said that the upcoming presidential elections needed to meet 
international standards, while several Allies said that it 
was important that NATO membership not become a campaign 
issue.  Deputy Secretary Steinberg stressed the importance of 
public support for Ukraine's membership aspirations, while 
Polish FM Sikorski also stressed the need for a non-partisan 
approach to NATO among Ukraine's political elite. END SUMMARY 
 
 
 
USNATO 00000573  002 OF 003 
 
 
--------------------------- 
NATO Membership and the ANP 
--------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C/NF) At the December 3 NATO-Ukraine Commission Foreign 
Ministerial, Ukrainian FM Poroshenko said that Kyiv was 
taking pragmatic and realistic steps toward its goal of NATO 
membership.  He said that Ukraine was pleased with the 
results of its first Annual National Program (ANP) cycle, 
adding that the Ukrainian government had already prepared its 
ANP document for 2010.  He said that Kyiv recognized the work 
it still needed to do in a number of areas, such as in the 
fight against corruption. 
 
¶7. (C/NF) Allies reaffirmed NATO's commitment to the 
Bucharest Summit decision that Ukraine would one day become a 
member of NATO, but stressed that the burden fell on Ukraine 
to carry out the reforms necessary to meet NATO's 
performance-based standards.  While commending the progress 
achieved thus far in the new ANP process, Allies sent a 
consistent message that they expected significantly more from 
Ukraine than it had so far been able to achieve.  Steinberg 
urged Ukraine to make better use of its ANP next year, 
including politically and economically feasible reform goals. 
 Polish FM Sikorski stressed that Ukraine needed a 
"consistent" implementation of its reforms, while Dutch 
Foreign Minister Verhagen said that Ukraine needed to show 
progress in the areas of rule of law and the fight against 
corruption, and security sector reform.  Other Allies made 
similar remarks, with several also including the need for 
Kyiv to improve its interagency coordination processes 
related to NATO. 
 
¶8. (C/NF) Secretary General Rasmussen told Poroshenko that 
Allies expected high standards during the upcoming 
presidential elections.  Poroshenko said the elections would 
be free and fair, adding that Kyiv had invited a thousand 
observers to monitor the elections in order to demonstrate 
the stability of its democracy. 
 
¶9. (C/NF) Sikorski led Allies in stressing the need for a 
non-partisan, pro-NATO consensus within Ukraine's political 
class, as well as within the Ukrainian public at large. 
Sikorski stressed that it was important that NATO membership 
not become a key issue during the upcoming Ukrainian 
presidential election.  Steinberg made a similar point, 
noting that Allies cannot want NATO membership for Ukraine 
more than Ukrainians want it for themselves.  Other Allies 
echoed similar themes.  In response, Poroshenko said that 
none of the major presidential candidates had tried to 
politicize NATO membership and that public support for NATO 
membership now outranked those opposed 32 percent to 29 
percent, with the rest undecided. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Contributions to NATO-led Operations 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶10.  (C/NF) Reminding Allies that Ukraine participates in 
more NATO-led operations than any other NATO partner, 
Poroshenko announced that Ukraine's National Security and 
Defense Committee had decided on November 20 to triple its 
participation in the International Security Assistance Force 
(ISAF) mission in Afghanistan.  Allies welcomed the news and 
commended Kyiv for its commitment to operations.  Steinberg 
said that Ukraine's participation in operations demonstrated 
Ukraine's commitment to becoming a security provider. 
 
--------------------- 
Relations with Russia 
--------------------- 
 
¶11. (C/NF) Poroshenko said that Ukraine was trying to be 
pragmatic in its relations with Russia.  At the same time, he 
urged Allies to oppose any efforts by Russia to claim a 
sphere of influence or to exercise a veto over Ukraine's 
membership aspirations.  German PermRep Brandenburg commended 
this pragmatic approach, as did Italian PermRep Stefanini. 
Stefanini also reassured Poroshenko that Allies would oppose 
Russian efforts to assert a sphere of influence. 
 
--------------------------- 
Security of Energy Supplies 
--------------------------- 
 
 
USNATO 00000573  003 OF 003 
 
 
¶12. (C/NF) Poroshenko said that Ukraine had taken concrete 
steps to avoid a gas crisis with Russia similar to the ones 
it had had in recent years.  He said that Kyiv had settled 
its payment to Moscow, leaving no outstanding debt to Russia. 
 He also said that Ukraine had spent USD 7 billion to build 
up a reserve energy supply.  Slovakia, the Czech Republic, 
and Hungary were among the Allies who said that they expected 
Ukraine to take all necessary steps to be a reliable energy 
transit country. 
 
----------------- 
Strategic Concept 
----------------- 
 
¶13. (C/NF) Poroshenko said that Ukraine hoped to be able to 
contribute to the ongoing NATO discussion about the 
development of a new NATO Strategic Concept, particularly as 
the Concept would be binding on Kyiv when Ukraine finally 
does join the Alliance.  He said that he hoped the Concept 
would reaffirm NATO's Open Door policy.  He also suggested 
the idea of some form of security guarantees for non-NATO 
members, such as Ukraine, which had voluntarily given up 
nuclear weapons. 
 
----------------------- 
Thanks for H1N1 Support 
----------------------- 
 
¶14. (C/NF) Poroshenko expressed his thanks to those Allies 
and partners which had provided assistance, via the 
Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Center, during 
Ukraine's H1N1 crisis. 
DAALDER