New York - At a press conference today, Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister Volodymyr Yelchenko addressed a question about the slow progress of the investigation into the "mysterious disapearance of the journalist" Georgyi Gongadze. Mr. Yelchenko's response is quoted below.
"On the 27th of Feb, I spent the whole day in Washington DC for bilateral consultations with the State Department on National SC, because as Deputy Foreign Minister, I am also in charge of the bilateral Ukrainian-United States relations, so that was one of my priorities before coming to New York. During the whole day, we had very friendly and useful discussions. Ukrainian authorities are not going to hide anything. […] That was, by the way, the same day when Mr. Moroz was there. I told my American counterpart that the only purpose of the President or Ukraine, the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, and government of Ukraine is to learn the truth about this case, both the Gongadze case and the tapes.
"For this purpose. I think by the end of this week, in Kyiv we are going to receive the expert group from the FBI which was requested by the Ukrainian government. This became possible in Washington after I exchanged the letters of certification on the US-Ukraine agreement on mutual legal assistance. That is just to demonstrate that we completely open. We admit that there were a lot of mistakes done during the initial stage of the investigation of the Gongadze case, and that is something that should be corrected.
"As you know, President Kuchma some time ago dismissed the head of the National Security Service of Ukraine. One of the reasons is exactly the slow pace of the investigation.
"As far as the other representatives of Ukraine's government are concerned, those who are heavily criticized by the Minister of the Interior and the General Procurator, it's up to the Prime Minister to decide and to propose to the President as far as their dismissal is concerned.
"But it's a completely open process. You know also that the President of Ukraine addressed a letter to the editor of the Financial Times some 2 weeks ago, in which he explained not only his approach to the issue as the president of the country but also as a … private citizen. He also wants to know the truth, and the truth may be there only after the investigation is finished.
Mr. Yelchenko is presiding over the United Nations Security Council during the month of March.
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