Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 11, 1994 TAG: 9401110113
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From wire reports
DATELINE: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM LENGTH: Medium
Clinton called the Ukrainian agreement a "hopeful and historic" advance. And he also hailed the offer of greater cooperation with former Soviet bloc nations, though some of them wanted more.
"It is time to begin welcoming these newcomers to our neighborhood," he said.
Even after Clinton's announcement of the arms For updated information, call InfoLine and enter code 2022. agreement with Ukraine - the world's third-largest nuclear power - there were questions about how fast Ukraine would scrap its 1,800 warheads and whether the Parliament could block disarmament. President Leonid Kravchuk has failed in the past to get his Cabinet and Parliament to follow him on the issue.
Clinton added a symbolic stop Wednesday in Kiev, Ukraine's capital, to his schedule.
The upbeat mood at the 16-nation NATO summit was clouded by lingering division over how far the West should go to stop the war in Bosnia, which has claimed 200,000 lives.
In the absence of consensus for tougher action, the leaders debated whether to simply renew their unfulfilled threat of air strikes against the Serbs if they continue to shell Sarajevo and block U.N. relief convoys.
French President Francois Mitterrand urged reinforcement of U.N. troops in Bosnia. However, Clinton cautioned that if NATO threatens military action, "We have to mean it. . . . If the situation does not improve, the alliance must be prepared to act."
British Prime Minister John Major proposed stiffening the allied threat of air strikes on Serb forces who surround Canadian troops in Srebrenica. He also recommended bombing Serbs on the hills around the airport at Tuzla, a key humanitarian-aid delivery point. The airport is closed because the Serbs refuse to guarantee they will not attack.
The heads of states hope to make a declaration on Bosnia at the final NATO session today.
NATO leaders had hoped to concentrate on the "Partnership for Peace" - the offer to Eastern European countries eventually to join the alliance.
Mindful of Russian nationalist anger, the allies stopped short of promising the full NATO membership desired by Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, which would have placed them under immediate alliance protection. The plan states that NATO will accept new members but doesn't specify candidates, criteria or a specific timetable.
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by CNB