Ukraine Vows to Become Neutral, Nuclear-Free; Leader to See Yeltsin : Independence: The breakaway republic takes steps to reassure the world on its intentions.

The Ukraine, the newest major player in the global arena, moved swiftly and decisively Tuesday to reassure the rest of the world that it intends to become “neutral and non-nuclear” as quickly as possible.

In a simultaneous bid to improve relations with its mightiest neighbor, the Ukraine’s president-elect, Leonid M. Kravchuk, arranged for talks on neutral ground with Russian Federation President Boris N. Yeltsin.

Yeltsin, in a sudden about-face after virtually campaigning against Ukrainian independence, issued a statement saying he was prepared to recognize the Ukraine, assuming it “strictly observes its obligations” on nuclear nonproliferation and human rights.

The rebirth of a free Ukraine is posing a high-stakes geopolitical puzzler for world leaders, who must choose between propping up the Soviet state and its leader, President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, and the right of Ukrainians and other peoples in the crumbling Soviet Union to self-determination.

Highlighting the Ukraine’s arrival on the world scene, President Bush telephoned Kiev on Tuesday to congratulate Kravchuk on his presidential victory and the huge number of Ukrainians who voted for independence in Sunday’s referendum, officials here said.

Anatoly Zlenko, the republic’s foreign minister, told a press conference that Poland and Canada have become the first Eastern and Western countries to recognize the Ukraine, and he predicted that U.S. recognition is “just a matter of time. I have all grounds to say that the position of the U.S. Administration is on the right track,” he said. “The telephone call between Mr. Bush and Mr. Kravchuk testifies to this.”

In a Wedgewood blue room of the Foreign Ministry press center, Zlenko, at 2:40 p.m., took up a pen and signed documents inside a leather folder that upgraded the Hungarian Consulate here to an embassy, an act giving Kiev its first ambassadorial-level mission.

Although Kravchuk’s government may be in good graces abroad, its ties with its great neighbor, the Russian Federation, were badly damaged by the march to independence. So it was a surprise when Zlenko announced that the “first president” to congratulate Kravchuk by phone was not Bush, but Yeltsin.

The leaders agreed to meet Saturday in Minsk, capital of the republic of Belarus (formerly Byelorussia), along with the Belarus president, Stanislav Shushkevich, for what will be a summit of the three Slavic republics, Zlenko announced.

Gennady E. Burbulis, Yeltsin’s closest adviser, said Tuesday that the Russian Federation government respects the results of the Ukrainian independence referendum as law. And now, he said, Russia will do all it can “so that relations with the Ukraine are strengthened, not brought into question.”

Thomas Niles, an assistant secretary of state acting as Bush’s special envoy, is expected to arrive here on Friday. He will seek guarantees that, in exchange for U.S. recognition, the Ukrainians will obey superpower arms treaties, reimburse a share of the Soviet foreign debt and safeguard the status of 11 million Russians and other minorities living in the Ukraine.

Secretary of State James A. Baker III is expected to visit the Ukraine next week.

Reading from a prepared text, Zlenko on Tuesday revealed to reporters the blueprint for an independent Ukrainian foreign policy that, point by point, seemed intended to defuse the concerns expressed by the United States and other Western nations. He said an independent Ukraine:

* Will participate in all arms control treaties that apply to its territory and observe all pacts entered into by the Soviet Union that do not contradict Ukrainian law.

* Is willing to repay some of the Soviet debt.

* Will gradually create its own army, but in consultation with the Soviet Defense Ministry and other countries and in keeping with the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe.

* Intends to become a “neutral and non-nuclear state” as soon as its security requirements permit and will join no military bloc.

* Will “strictly observe” the human rights obligations of the 1975 Helsinki Final Act.

* Has no territorial claims on any country.

Offering updated election figures to reporters, Zlenko said that 90.32% of those voting in Sunday’s referendum endorsed independence and that 61.51% had voted for Kravchuk.