German, Polish ministers on joint mission to Ukraine
(KIEV) - The foreign ministers of Germany and Poland arrived in Ukraine Wednesday for a rare joint visit aimed at assessing how the European Union can help assure the battered country's stability.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany and Poland's Radoslaw Sikorski arrived in Kiev at about 10:30 am (0730 GMT) on a German Luftwaffe plane for one day of talks with the Ukrainian government, parliament and the opposition.
"We come as friends and our message is clear: we want to help," Steinmeier, who is challenging Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany's general election in September, told the Wednesday issue of Polish daily Gazeta Wyborsza.
The global economic crisis has delivered a body blow to Ukraine, with the World Bank forecasting a nine-percent contraction this year and political decision-making held up by bitter internal fueding.
"We want to discuss with our Ukrainian partners what we can do to cushion the impact (of the economic crisis). That can only work when we work together, and when the key political forces in Ukraine work together," Steinmeier said.
The ministers are to meet with President Viktor Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and opposition leader Viktor Yanukovich as well as acting foreign minister Vladimir Handogy.
Steinmeier and Sikorski, as representatives of the two EU member states with the closest ties to Ukraine, sent a joint letter to the Czech EU presidency in April calling for closer ties between the bloc and Kiev.
The letter underlined the potentially serious consequences of a further destabilisation of the country due to political gridlock and a deteriorating economy and called on Ukraine to press on with crucial reforms.
Ukraine was forced to tap into its reserves this month to pay a Russian gas bill, with a summer of supply disruptions to Europe from a new Kiev-Moscow gas crisis still a real threat.
Tymoshenko said Tuesday that Ukraine wanted to borrow four billion dollars (2.9 billion euros) from European banks to pay for Russian gas to refill its storage facilities.
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