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Ukraine: No Iraq radar sale proof
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- The U.S. has not proved that Ukraine sold a radar system to Iraq in violation of economic sanctions, an official in Kiev is reported to have said. The Bush administration has suspended $55 million in aid to the government of Ukraine after concluding Kiev approved the sale of an early warning system to Iraq, the State Department said on Tuesday. Although reports of the sale to Baghdad have been around for some time, the United States is basing its judgment on its analysis of a July 2000 recording in which Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma is heard approving the sale of Kolchuga early warning systems to Iraq in the face of U.N. sanctions. The tape, which State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said is believed to be authentic, was given to Washington by Kuchma's former bodyguard, Mykola Melnichenko.
Ukraine's Economics Minister Oleksandr Shlapak said said on Wednesday the accusations could affect upcoming talks between Ukrainian and U.S. officials in Washington at the annual meeting between the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. "Let them restrict aid if they think it necessary," Shlapak said in the Interfax report, adding that "it would have been a different matter if the delivery was proven, then it would have been absolutely correct." He did not know whether the accusations of arms deliveries will be discussed during the delegation's visit to Washington, Interfax reported. "We are going to discuss economic issues, but we'll see how it comes out," he said. The issue of weapons sales to Iraq in the face of U.N. sanctions has long been a sore spot in U.S.-Ukrainian relations. Boucher said the matter has been repeatedly raised with the Kuchma government "to ensure that they protected against sales and made sure that no sales were made despite Iraq's attempts to procure military equipment." "We're all aware the Ukraine has manufacturers and equipment that Iraq has sought to procure in the past because it was compatible with their previous stocks of military equipment," Boucher said. The senior administration official said the radar system was "very sophisticated" and "should not be in the hands of Iraq."
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