KIEV, Feb 24: In a move likely to dismay Washington, Ukraine's new defence minister said on Thursday that his country plans to pull out all of its 1,650 troops in Iraq by the end of this year.
"I believe that our troops will be withdrawn this year," the Interfax news agency quoted Defence Minister Anatoly Hrytsenko as saying.
The defence minister, who took up his post earlier this month, said that no concrete timetable would be announced before a meeting scheduled next week of the national security and defence council.
"The president will decide what month this will take place and it is the president's decision whether or not this will be carried out in two or three phases," he said.
Last week, Mr Hrytsenko said that around 700 of Ukraine's 1,650-strong contingent serving in a Polish-led multinational division would probably leave Iraq by the end of April.
Ukraine's decision is an unwanted headache for the United States, with Poland already having decided to pull out a third of its 2,400 soldiers because of strong domestic opposition to the deployment of troops. Last year Spain's incoming Socialist government withdrew the 1,300 Spanish troops serving in Washington's "coalition of the willing".
New pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko promised during his election campaign late last year to pull Ukrainian troops out of Iraq - the sixth-largest contingent in the US-led occupation forces.
The United States, which backed him during the "orange revolution" stand off with Leonid Kuchma's regime that brought him to power, responded by insisting that any withdrawal should be made gradually and in a coordinated way.
A defence ministry spokesman in Kiev reiterated Mr Yushchenko's pledge to consult, including with the Iraqi administration elected last month, before making any concrete moves.
"Before it withdraws its forces from Iraq, Ukraine will hold consultations with its coalition partners and the provisional government in Iraq," a ministry spokesman said. But commentators in Kiev said the withdrawal was not in doubt and Ukraine was willing to risk US ire, despite its hopes of one day joining NATO as well as the European Union that Mr Yushchenko sought to advance this week in Brussels.
"Of course Washington would like Ukraine to stay in Iraq, but Mr Yushchenko can hardly back down on this issue as it was a campaign pledge," foreign policy expert Alexander Sushko said. -AFP
