AMMAN, (Jordan), April 24 – Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma called for the deployment of international forces in the West Bank and Gaza to set the stage for the resumption of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. Kuchma said Wednesday that the resumption of negotiations should focus on the establishment of a Palestinian state and a cease-fire. Kuchma spoke in Jordan at the end of a Mideast tour that included Lebanon and Syria. He also called for an unconditional, immediate and complete Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories and “ending all violent operations and terrorist acts, a step which must be declared officially by the Israeli leadership and the President of the Palestinian Authority Yasser Arafat.”
The Ukrainian president, who arrived Tuesday in the Jordanian capital, held talks with King Abdullah II. The talks between the two men focused on the situation in the region and the escalation of violence in the Palestinian territories as well as bilateral economic cooperation. Jordan and Ukraine signed economic and cultural agreements to enhance and facilitate trade exchange, joint ventures and the establishment of trade centers in the two countries.
Last year, the volume of bilateral trade reached 56,9 million dinars (dlrs 80 million) of Ukrainian exports to Jordan, while Jordanian exports to Ukraine reached one million dinars (dlrs 1,4 million).
