MOSCOW — Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and Russian President Vladimir V. Putin moved Monday to mend relations damaged by Ukraine's recent political crisis, expressing satisfaction with a meeting here that focused on economic relations but also touched on the Ukrainian leader's dioxin poisoning during his campaign last year.
Yushchenko has repeatedly said that his goal is to move Ukraine toward European Union membership, but upon meeting Putin he acknowledged his country's historic ties with Russia.
"We assume, and will continue to assume, that Russia is our eternal strategic ally," he said.
Putin, meanwhile, sought to explain his open support of Yushchenko's rival, former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, in Ukraine's bitterly contested presidential election. Putin visited Ukraine twice during the campaign, speaking highly of Yanukovich, and swiftly congratulated him on his victory in a Nov. 21 runoff election against Yushchenko that was later declared invalid because of fraud.
"Russia has never played behind the scenes in post-Soviet space," Putin told his guest. "It has never worked with the opposition, but only with the leadership of any country. This also applies to Ukraine. We did what the country's leadership asked us to do.... We only hope that we will develop such trusting relations with you."
Yushchenko won a Dec. 26 rematch against Yanukovich. He was inaugurated Sunday and came to Moscow in the first foreign trip of his presidency, fulfilling a campaign pledge. He plans to visit European Union countries later in the week.
Yushchenko on Monday also announced his choice of a key ally, Yulia Tymoshenko, as Ukraine's next prime minister, naming her to that post in an acting capacity pending confirmation by parliament. She is a fiery speaker who played a major role in rallying protesters on behalf of Yushchenko during the effort to overturn the November runoff.
But Tymoshenko, 44, a former businesswoman and deputy prime minister, has been facing an arrest warrant in Russia on corruption charges, which she calls bogus.
Asked at a Monday evening news conference whether he had brought up that issue with Putin, including the need for a solution if she was to be able to visit Russia, Yushchenko replied: "I did talk to him about this. I am satisfied with the answer." He didn't elaborate.
