RUSSIA WILLING TO WORK WITH NEW UKRAINIAN LEADERS – DEFENCE MINISTER

Interfax-AVN military news agency web site, Moscow
13 Jan 05

Washington, 13 January: Russian Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov has
said Russia was willing to work with the new Ukrainian leadership.

“There were many statements made in the course of the election
campaign and the three rounds of the election, but the election is now
over. Ukraine remains in the same place geographically as before the
election, and it is time for normal work for Ukraine and Russia,”
Ivanov told a news conference in Washington.

“We are well aware of Mr (President-elect Viktor) Yushchenko’s
statement to the effect that he would like to pay his first official
visit in his new capacity to Moscow,” the minister said.

Answering a question on prospects in Russian-Armenian relations,
Ivanov said: “We will not push Armenia in any direction. It is a
sovereign state, and Armenia will decide itself in what direction it
should develop.”

The defence minister also noted the dynamic development of
Russian-Turkish relations.

“I cannot see any major problems in relations with that country except
for double standards in the fight against terrorism,” he
said. According to the minister, Turkey is top of the league in terms
of numbers of its nationals killed in Chechnya as members of rebel
gangs. There have been several dozen of these, Ivanov added.