Analysis: U.S. eyes Ukraine energy routes

Quote: What a difference two decades and a generation make.
On Aug. 1, 1991, President George H.W. Bush in Kiev addressed a session of Ukraine's Supreme Soviet. In a speech written by his Soviet and East European Affairs Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Bush cautioned the Ukrainian lawmakers Americans "will not aid those who promote a suicidal nationalism." New York Times columnist William Safire subsequently dubbed the speech "chicken Kiev." Four months later, the Soviet Union imploded.
On April 1, during a state visit to Ukraine prior to attending the NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania, President George W. Bush, accompanied by Rice, now secretary of state, met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in Kiev for discussions. The topics included diversification of Ukraine's natural gas imports, Ukraine's pursuit of a NATO Membership Action Plan for joining the alliance, and the government's battle with corruption and economic issues, including investment cooperation involving U.S. companies in large-scale privatization. Bush even discussed with his hosts the possibility of creating a free-trade zone between Ukraine and the United States. In a classic instance of diplomatic understatement, Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Turchynov labeled the discussions "interesting."
Following his Kiev sojourn, Bush jetted off to Bucharest, where his more cautious NATO allies effectively rejected his cherished goal of a MAP for Ukraine and Georgia, another former Soviet republic. Most journalists covering the summit focused on the drama surrounding the entry tussles over Ukrainian and Georgian NATO membership, but the real legacy of Bush's Eastern European jaunt may well be his discussions in Kiev, as they have infuriated the Kremlin while essentially delivering nothing tangible to Ukraine and have effectively tarred President Viktor Yushchenko and his government as U.S. stooges.
Turchynov said Bush and Tymoshenko discussed diversifying Ukraine's natural gas supplies by signing gas deals directly with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan with U.S. cooperation.
There is only one small flaw in Bush's view of U.S.-Ukrainian energy cooperation....

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