UKRAINE: Hours before flying to Brussels to meet the leaders of NATO and the European Union yesterday, the new President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, politely pushed aside Russia's invitation to join an economic bloc of former Soviet republics.
After talks with Russia's Foreign Minister, Mr Sergei Lavrov, Mr Yushchenko restated his ambition to lead Ukraine into the Brussels-based organisations, a westward shift that has deeply irked a Kremlin long used to pulling its neighbour's strings.
"Russia is Ukraine's eternal strategic partner," Mr Yushchenko said. "But I would not like to comment on all the pages of our bilateral relations. If we are friends, we should turn these pages.
"My position is that relations with Russia should be pragmatic, friendly and close." He added that Russia was "a market of particular economic interest".
He made no bones about his priorities, however, in his meeting with the most senior Russian official to visit Kiev since huge street protests helped overturn a fraudulent election victory for a rival candidate who was backed by the Kremlin.
"Not a single person in my team doubts the need for good relations with Russia, their improvement, intensification and the solution of every problem," Mr Yushchenko stated.
"But it is important that relations with the East do not block our path to Europe."
The European Commission has made clear that Ukrainian membership of the so-called Common Economic Space, Moscow's name for the nascent bloc of four post-Soviet states, could jeopardise Kiev's chances of one day joining the EU. Mr Yushchenko's pro-Moscow predecessor was in favour of the union.
Boris Tarasyuk, Ukraine's Foreign Minister, said a compromise might be found which would not tie Kiev so closely to Russia, the isolated Belarus of authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, and energy-rich but democracy-poor Kazakhstan.
"If we are talking about a free trade zone, in principle this would not pose a problem for our integration with the EU and the World Trade Organisation," Mr Tarasyuk said after meeting his Russian counterpart.
"But if we are talking about more fundamental integration, there could be problems."
Mr Yushchenko was due to fly last night to Brussels, where he will have his first meeting with President Bush.