Documents show the ex-PM was told Ukraine's accession would help combat Russian expansionism.
Ukraine's then-president described Tony Blair as a "sincere friend" of his country in the archived documentsTony Blair was urged to back Ukraine's dream to join the EU to form a barrier against Russian threats, newly released records from his time as PM show.
Mr Kuchma had first declared Ukraine's intention to join the EU in 1998, but there was little enthusiasm for it in Germany or France. One of the biggest stumbling blocks was that Ukraine was beset with corruption and its businesses run by powerful oligarchs.the gruesome 2000 murder of a journalist, Georgiy Gongadze
After July 2001 talks in Crimea, 13 years before it was seized by Russia, he wrote to the prime minister: "Strengthening Ukraine's shaky democracy and economy increases stability on the EU's future eastern borders and acts as a formidable barrier to any resurgence of Russian imperialism to the West."
Kataryna Wolczuk, professor of East European politics at the University of Birmingham, believes that by 2001 UK leaders had little concern about Russia's future plans for Ukraine, as President Putin was "still in his Euro-Atlantic ally mood". The archive documents also show support for Ukraine's position from the UK's ambassador to Kyiv, Roland Smith, who cautioned against a proposal by then-Foreign Secretary Jack Straw for the EU to give Ukraine "special neighbour status" along with Belarus and Moldova.
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