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Although Ukraine's December 2004 Orange Revolution sparked speculation about the country's potential to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), mainstream security analysts have missed the potential for co-operation with Kiev on missile defence. But US President George W Bush and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko have said that this is a promising area for co-operation. During their 4 April 2005 meeting in Washington, the two presidents agreed "to work together on missile defence, including beginning negotiations on a framework to facilitate such co-operation and closer industry-to-industry collaboration". These few words may lift US-Ukrainian security co-operation to new heights.

KUT, Iraq, Dec. 19, 2005 – Multinational Division Central South bid farewell to troops from Ukraine, one of the unit's mainstay nationalities, during a ceremony today at Camp Delta here. Polish Army Maj. Gen. Piotr Czerwinski said the Ukrainian contingent has done excellent work in the area and helped provide stability to the region and training to Iraqi troops, who now pick up the mission. Ukraine will not end its affiliation with the coalition, Multinational Force Iraq officials said, but large troop deployments will end. Ukrainian Maj. Gen. Anatoliy Pushniakov, a staff officer with the division, said more than 5,000...

WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Ukraine's defense minister said Thursday that his country might leave 900 troops in Iraq beyond its October deadline for pulling out, and stressed that Kiev would not abandon its mission in the Middle East country. Ukraine on Tuesday approved the pullout of its 1,650-strong contingent in a phased withdrawal between March 15 and October. Its troops are responsible for security and training new Iraqi forces in Wasit province, which borders Iran. "Ukraine is not leaving the coalition, but it is changing the character of its mission," Anatoly Gritsenko told reporters in Warsaw after a meeting with...

As of today pullout of the Ukrainian peacemaking contingent from Iraq is number one task, President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko claimed presenting new Defense Minister Anatoly Hrytsenko today. According to an UNIAN correspondent, the President said that the Ukrainian servicemen fulfilled their tasks in Iraq at a high level, and now the diplomats and other departments will start the work for implementation of the Ukrainian national interests in this question. V.Yushchenko has said that the rules and schedule of pullout of the peacemakers must be the principle questions, which have to be co-ordinated with the partners of Ukraine for the...

Cheney Calls New Ukraine President Ally By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer KRAKOW, Poland - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is an "ally of freedom's cause," Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) said Wednesday in toasting the new leader, who leans toward the West yet plans to maintain his nation's historic ties with Russia. Echoing President Bush (news - web sites)'s inaugural address, Cheney talked about overcoming tyranny and hatred in his remarks during a meeting with the new leader of the former Soviet republic and, earlier, at a reception with survivors of the Holocaust. "What President Yushchenko has...

Incoming Ukrainian defense minister Aleksandr Kuz'muk declared that the Ukraine has a right to ask for a gradual cut-back in its contingent and to end its mission in Iraq, reports 'Interfaks'. "In Iraq there is now a provision government, which now directs all processes in Iraq, in January there will be an election. And I believe that the Ukraine has full right to put forth the question of a gradual cut-back of it contingent and to end its mission in Iraq," said Kuz'muk on Friday. Answering the question as to how his posting will effect the Ukraine's movement towards NATO,...

Ukraine Defense Minister Vows to Keep Forces in Iraq Bill Gasperini Moscow 13 Aug 2004, 15:54 UTC US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, left, and Ukrainian Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk, right Ukraine has told the visiting U.S. defense secretary that its contingent of troops in Iraq will remain in that country for the forseeable future. Ukraine's defense minister, Yevhen Marchuk, told U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that the country plans to maintain its contingent for now at its current level of around 1600 troops. Publicly he gave no reason for the apparent change of policy, which came just weeks after Mr....

No Need To Replace Ukrainian Troops In Polish Force: Minister AFP: 7/29/2004 WARSAW, July 29 (AFP) - Poland will not need to worry about replacing Ukrainian troops, if they decide to withdraw from a Polish-led force in Iraq, Deputy Defence Minister Janusz Zemke said on Thursday. "It will not be necessary," he was quoted as saying by the PAP news agency "because the Iraqi forces are taking over more and more of the tasks." He was commenting after Ukrainian Defence Minister Yevhen Marchuk said on Thursday that Kiev will not allow its troops to remain part of the US-led coalition...

Ukraine Looks to Reduce Troops in Iraq Thu Jul 29, 1:42 PM ET By ALEKSANDAR VASOVIC, Associated Press Writer KIEV, Ukraine - Ukraine is negotiating with the United States and Poland to reduce and eventually withdraw its troops from Iraq (news - web sites), a top defense official said Thursday, becoming the latest country to consider pulling out its mission. Vyacheslav Bolotniuk, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, gave no timeline. "There will be a decrease of troops," Bolotniuk told The Associated Press. Ukrainian troops have begun turning over guard duties of several key facilities to Iraqi soldiers, the...

KIEV, April 28 (Reuters) - Ukraine lost its fifth soldier in Iraq on Wednesday, but vowed its peacekeepers would not pull out. The soldier was killed when his patrol came under attack from grenades and high-calibre machine guns about 60 km (40 miles) south of Kut, Ukraine's Defence Ministry said. Two other Ukrainians were wounded. The patrol withdrew with support from two U.S. helicopters. Two Ukrainians have died in previous attacks and three in accidents. President Leonid Kuchma offered his condolences to the family of the dead soldier, but said Ukraine's approximately 1,600 peacekeepers would stay in Iraq. "Our troops...

KIEV, April 8 (Reuters) - Ukraine's Defence Ministry insisted on Thursday it had no plans to withdraw its troops from Iraq despite fierce attacks earlier this week that forced its soldiers to pull out of the southern city of Kut. "The issue of pulling out troops is not being considered now," a spokesman said. "The Ukrainian mission was a peacekeeping one and they (the soldiers) had only light weapons but if there is a need, we do not rule out the possibility of thinking about sending additional equipment for them." Ukrainian troops pulled out of Kut on Wednesday after one...