Clinton Swoops in Like Santa With Pledges for Ukraine Leader : Diplomacy: The U.S. President’s airport stop aims to boost the chances that Kiev will get rid of its nuclear arms.

For a president of Ukraine, it doesn’t get any better than this.

President Clinton and his gleaming blue-and-white 747 swooped into Kiev’s grimy Borispol Airport on a cold midwinter evening Wednesday, and the youthful leader of the world’s only remaining superpower bestowed a personal blessing on Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk, rattling off pledges of assistance and support and promises of a place in a glowing future.

True, the pledges added up to little new money, and Clinton’s purpose was to boost the former Communist leader’s chances of keeping his promise to get rid of his country’s nuclear weapons.

Still, for the embattled Kravchuk it must have looked like Christmas.

As if dropping in on a favored congressional candidate, Clinton pumped the dour Kravchuk’s hand, praised him to the foggy skies and talked up the barrelful of rewards Ukraine will enjoy if it gets rid of its missiles.

“Our meeting this evening . . . opens the door to new forms of economic, political and security cooperation,” Clinton said at a news conference in the airport terminal. “We are prepared to increase our (economic) support substantially as Ukraine moves toward economic reform,” he added, holding out the prospect of more than $155 million in new U.S. aid.

Kravchuk, beaming, said Clinton’s offer of aid is “very important.”

And he said he is increasingly certain that he can persuade his balky nationalist Parliament to support his agreement to dismantle the more than 1,800 nuclear warheads that Ukraine inherited from the Soviet Union.

“I am convinced that our Parliament will become smarter in the course of its life,” he said.

The enticements Clinton offered went beyond immediate financial aid.

The President gave Kravchuk an invitation the Ukrainian has long coveted, an official visit to Washington--”Blair House, red carpets, brass bands, everything,” a White House aide enthused.

Clinton said the United States is ready to act as Ukraine’s sponsor--”Ukraine’s godfather,” as an aide put it--in international organizations that control much larger amounts of aid, including the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

And Administration officials said the pact will help ensure Ukraine’s safety from domination by neighboring Russia--by opening the way to military cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and by strengthening Kiev’s economy.

Kravchuk has promised several times to get rid of the nuclear arms on his territory, but the Ukrainian Parliament has demanded both financial compensation and guarantees of protection against Russia before a firm agreement can be reached.

The news conference was broadcast live on Ukrainian television, and White House aides said one of Clinton’s main aims was to influence the Ukrainian public in favor of the pact, which is to be signed in Moscow on Friday.

Before Clinton’s arrival, in Kiev’s Parliament and its streets, reaction to the agreement was skeptical. But for the first time, there were some positive notes too.

“There are some things (in the pact) that could possibly be good for Ukraine: guarantees of borders, sovereignty and financial compensation,” said Serhiy Holovaty, a moderate nationalist leader in the Parliament. “If these three main conditions are satisfactorily met, I will judge it as a success.”

“We need economic development. Why do we need missiles?” asked Irina Lesovetskaya, a retired physician. But she added that she is concerned that Russia will not keep its promises to compensate Ukraine for the uranium it will give up in the deal.

Still, some nationalists remained firmly in opposition. As Clinton walked into the airport terminal, a band of about 30 demonstrators chanted “Clinton, go home!” and “Kravchuk, resign!”

“A belligerent Russia is not the place to give nuclear weapons away,” said Ivan Lozovy, a Ukrainian-born New Yorker who was one of the demonstrators.

Under the accord, Ukraine will agree to eliminate its nuclear weapons over a period of time that officials said will be less than seven years.

In return, Ukraine will receive $1 billion worth of nuclear fuel for civilian reactors, representing the equivalent of the high-energy uranium in the nuclear warheads it is giving up.

In addition, Russia will forgive much of Kiev’s debt to Moscow as compensation for the short-range nuclear weapons Ukraine gave up in earlier years.

At the same time, both the United States and Russia will affirm their commitments to respect Ukraine’s existing borders, including the Crimea, which is claimed by Russian nationalists.

Clinton’s offers of new economic aid included the possibility of doubling $155 million already promised this year, plus roughly $20 million from a new fund to help start private enterprises in several former Soviet republics.

Much of the nuclear deal is being kept secret, White House officials said, in part to keep the details out of the hands of Kravchuk’s opponents while the Ukrainian leader tries to gather support.

Kravchuk himself was careful not to be too explicit about what he is promising on Ukraine’s behalf.

“Ukraine will be committed to its obligations,” he said. “Ukraine will not be the state that prevented disarmament.”

White House officials said they are confident the Ukrainian’s ambiguities did not signal any desire to wriggle out of the pact but merely reflected the fact he is still selling the accord in private talks.

He has told U.S. officials that he plans to bypass the current Parliament and wait until a new one is in place after elections in March.

But Holovaty predicted that the strategy will fail.

“He can’t ignore this Parliament,” he said. After the election, he predicted, “It won’t get any better.”

Times special correspondent Mary Mycio in Kiev contributed to this report.