NATO interested by Ukrainian aircraft for Sudan, Afghanistan operations

KIEV, June 27, 2005 (Sudan Tribune) — NATO is interested in Ukrainian military-transport aircraft taking part in peacekeeping operations in Sudan and Afghanistan.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

According to the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said this at a news conference in Kiev.

He said that this would not mean involvement in military operations. “We will deal with logistical issues, material and technical provision; since Ukraine has good resources of military-transport aircraft, it is quite possible that these resources will be employed to help the African Union, but it will not involve troops,” Scheffer said.

He said that the same goes for Afghanistan. In this country, Ukrainian assistance will be used in ensuring “all possible lines of communication” with Afghanistan.

Scheffer also said that Ukraine’s participation in NATO-led operations is always welcome. However, he noted that Ukraine’s participation in such operations is possible only after approval by parliament.

As UNIAN has reported, Ukrainian Defence Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko told a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO commission at NATO headquarters in Brussels on 9 June that Ukraine is ready to send military-transport aircraft for the peacekeeping mission in Sudan.

The meeting of the Ukraine-NATO mission considered reform of Ukraine’s security and defence sector and the involvement of units of Ukraine’s armed forces in NATO peacekeeping operations.

Hrytsenko said that the Ukrainian peacekeeping contingent would remain in Kosovo and Ukraine was ready to support NATO peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Speaking of the geographical expansion of Ukraine’s peacekeeping activity, Hrytsenko said that Ukraine is ready to provide military-transport aircraft for the NATO operation supporting the African Union’s efforts to stabilize the situation in the Sudanese province of Darfur.