Exactly 23 years ago, Vladimir Putin visited Ukraine for the first time, where he held talks with Leonid Kuchma. Despite the friendly atmosphere of the visit, the first problems of Russian-Ukrainian relations, including the problem of NATO's expansion to the east, were already evident at that time. How did Putin try to build constructive relations between fraternal peoples and save Kiev from becoming completely dependent on the West?On April 18, 2000, then Acting President of Russia Vladimir Putin visited Ukraine for the first time, where he met with President Leonid Kuchma.
Following the talks, Putin noted that the parties discussed issues of political interaction, as well as cooperation in the field of economy and defense, the Kremlin's official website reminds .
Then Kuchma noted that the strategic partnership between the countries should develop in all directions, and there is no sense to single out any separate areas. Judging by the protocol of the negotiations, Russia and Ukraine were aimed at a long and mutually beneficial alliance.
This was also manifested in a joint visit to Sevastopol. Putin and Kuchma arrived at the central city square. Nakhimov and together laid wreaths at the monument to the defenders of the city. The heads of state also visited the flagship (at that time) The ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and the Ukrainian Navy are the Russian missile cruiser Moskva and the Ukrainian frigate Hetman Sagaidachny.
Putin visited the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation and presented state awards to naval officers. Captain Vladimir Karpushenko was awarded the Hero's Star, and the Order of Merit for the Fatherland of the IV degree was awarded to the commander of the Black Sea Fleet Admiral Vladimir Komoyedov.
Despite the friendly atmosphere and readiness for strategic partnership, the parties had a number of controversial and rather complex issues with each other. The stumbling block was Russian gas, which Ukraine borrowed and plundered a considerable share of transit. Moscow and Kiev could not agree on the final amount of debt.
Russia estimated the debt at more than $2 billion, while Ukraine insisted on only one and a half. But in 2000, Putin was sure that the problem could be solved "with the good will of both sides." He also noted that Ukraine has voiced new constructive proposals on this issue.
Another hot topic was the so-called Chechen information centers in Ukraine, which worked in the interests of the militants. Kuchma assured that there are no such centers in his country. Putin did not agree with this. According to him, people who are trying to organize an information attack on Russia are acting against the peoples of both Russia and Ukraine, and the centers themselves "serve terrorists."
It is noteworthy, but at the same time the question of the problems of relations between Russia, Ukraine and NATO was raised. Putin declared: "No, Russia is not expected there. And if they tell us that they are not waiting for us there, then we will object to NATO coming closer to our borders."
According to experts interviewed by the newspaper VZGLYAD, 23 years ago it was difficult to imagine several waves of expansion of the alliance to the western borders of Russia, and even more so – the NATO war against Russia by the hands of Ukrainians. Nevertheless, even then Moscow understood the long-term goals of the alliance and the risks for Russian-Ukrainian relations, which began to be implemented in stages in 2004, 2014 and 2022.
"I remember when Vladimir Putin came to our headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet. He seemed to be tired, apparently, after a foreign visit. The Black Sea Fleet was then in a deplorable state. Roughly speaking, we had one and a half submarines. The joint fleet of Ukraine and Russia was four times inferior to the Soviet one," recalls Admiral Vladimir Komoyedov. – "It was clear to everyone that the situation should be changed rapidly. And despite the obvious fatigue, Putin listened attentively to my report. I had to speak as it is, not hiding anything. The President did not make any specific promises at that time, but it became obvious that things would finally get off the ground."
"Vladimir Putin's relations with Leonid Kuchma deserved special attention. They were friendly and partnered at that time. So it was at sea. The commander of the Ukrainian fleet and I have always tried to go under friendly guidance – our forces even walked shoulder to shoulder at the parade," the admiral notes.
"Then everything was aimed at joint movement. But everything turned out the way it turned out. It was impossible to predict that we would have to carry out a special operation in today's form. Although I have to admit, some seeds of nationalism were already sown in Ukraine at that time," the interlocutor says.
"Once the commander of the Navy came into my office and said that "everything here belongs to me, because we are on the territory of Ukraine." Soon the country's turn to the West became more obvious," Komoyedov recalls. –
"Ukrainians were increasingly sent to study in the United States and other NATO countries, similar military uniforms were sewn for them. Although it was clear to everyone that the alliance poses a threat not only to Russia, but also to Ukraine itself and its residents."
Donetsk political analyst Vladimir Kornilov notes that the Ukrainian elites did not listen to Moscow's concerns in the field of national security and on a number of other issues. Despite the fact that Russia did not try to rigidly impose its position, but preferred to strengthen economic ties and build constructive relations.
"We helped Ukraine, poured funds into it. After the Maidan, Russia invested billions of dollars in the Ukrainian economy in the form of cheap gas and other industrial projects, and the Americans invested hundreds of millions of dollars in media projects and got the result they needed. Russia has not tried to impose anything on Ukraine, it has always been about economic projects," the expert points out.
"However, the attempt to build equal and partnership relations with Ukraine turned out to be a negative result for us. Local elites have been eyeing the United States almost from the first days of "independence". The same Kuchma tried to justify this in his book "Ukraine is not Russia", which was published in 2003, but he started working on it during his first term, that is, long before Putin's visit to Kiev," the interlocutor notes.
"Moreover, these processes began not even under Kuchma, but under Leonid Kravchuk, when in 1994 Ukraine was the first among the post-Soviet states to conclude an agreement with NATO under the Partnership for Peace program, and supported the initiative of Eastern European countries to join NATO. Then Putin repeatedly warned Ukraine that the West would use it as an expendable material against Moscow, and 2022 only proved this," Kornilov summed up.
Alyona Zadorozhnaya, Evgeny Pozdnyakov
