US and Ukraine Continue Strategic Partnership on the Rule of Law

KYIV, Ukraine, July 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

As the result of the regular meeting of the Political Dialogue and Rule of Law, the Ukrainian-American Working Group reached an agreement to continue strategic partnership based on the principles of transparency and openness.

The Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the United States Department of State Thomas O. Melia is making his official visit to Ukraine to participate in the regular meeting of the Political Dialogue and Rule of Law Working Group that is functioning within the framework of the Ukrainian-American Commission on Strategic Partnership. The Ambassador of the United States to Ukraine John F. Tefft was also present at the meeting of the working group.

The Attorney General of Ukraine Viktor Pshonka met the US representatives to discuss the current status of the Prosecutor General's office in Ukraine and the perspectives of the US-Ukraine cooperation in the area of criminal justice and the rule of law in Ukraine. During the meeting with Melia and Tefft, Pshonka informed his American colleagues that the Prosecutor's General Office continues working on several draft laws on reforming of the public prosecution system and the Criminal Procedures Code of Ukraine. Special attention was paid to the issues of humanization and decriminalization of the criminal procedure, fight against corruption and especially the provision of the rule of law in Ukraine that is to be guaranteed by the reforms currently held in the field.

Ukrainian-American Commission on Strategic Partnership was first incepted in 2009 but only in early 2011 the institution was taken to a new level with top officials representing each country - the Minister of Foreign Affairs Kostyantyn Hryshchenko for Ukraine and the Secretary of State Hilary Clinton for the United States during their meeting in Washington, USA.

Cooperation between the United States and Ukraine started in 1991 with the recognition of the Ukrainian independence and sovereignty. Collaboration was first documented in the 1994 trilateral agreement between the US, Russia, and Ukraine on dismantling Ukraine's nuclear weapons and deploying them to Russia within 7 years. By the end of 2008 United States-Ukraine Charter on Strategic Partnership was signed confirming and widening the commitments made by the presidents of both states in 2005.