UNITED STATES: "NO GOVERNMENT CLOSER TO US RIGHT NOW THAN UKRAINE."

At a brief meeting in Helsinki yesterday with Leonid Kuchma, U.S. secretary of state Warren Christopher urged the Ukrainian president to "stay the course" of economic reform and promised U.S. support for Kiev’s case before the IMF. Ukraine is awaiting a decision on the release of the remainder of a $3 billion standby loan from the multilateral lending institution. It was announced after the meeting that Kuchma will be joining his top economic officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Roman Shpek, in Washington next week for talks with the IMF and the World Bank. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said "there is no government closer to us right now than Ukraine." (14)

Kuchma: No Partnership with Russia Without a Treaty.