Help Ukraine, Shun Its Leader

Ukraine, once the bread basket of the Soviet Union, is now more a basket case. The inept and corrupt government led since 1994 by President Leonid D. Kuchma has made a country of rich natural resources into a ward of development agencies. The United States and its European allies once thought Kuchma was capable of leading the country out of Moscow’s orbit and bringing prosperity to its 52 million people. They rewarded him with generous aid for cooperating in the dismantling of Ukraine’s nuclear arsenal and looked away when he squandered the money. No longer.

Kuchma now is a discredited leader, tainted with some of the worst abuses of power in Eastern Europe. His outstretched hand should no longer be welcome in Western capitals. That does not mean the West should turn its back on Ukraine itself, for Russia still waits in the wings with ill intention.

Ukraine’s economy, in a free fall for nine years, edged upward for the first time last year, but not enough to make a difference for the impoverished population. Corruption is rampant, foreign investment minuscule and public services nonexistent.

Kuchma’s implication in a brutal murder of a journalist last fall has plunged the country into a political crisis that further weakens the government. Public disaffection with Kuchma was heightened by the arrest last Tuesday of his opponent, former Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was investigating government corruption.

Russia is all too eager to exploit the predicament of its former territory. Russian companies have been plucking the juiciest plums of Ukraine’s industry--energy companies, banks, steel mills and aluminum smelters--at bargain-basement prices. The government in Kiev, Ukraine’s capital, faces more than $1.4 billion in unpaid gas bills to Moscow.

Losing friends at home, Kuchma is looking for support to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir V. Putin, who is happy to oblige. On a visit to Ukraine last week he agreed on reunification of electricity grids and signed a deal on aerospace cooperation. The more interests Russia has in Ukraine, the easier it will be for Moscow to undermine its independence.

Kuchma has disgraced himself, but Washington and other donors should continue to support grass-roots democracy in Ukraine and promote private entrepreneurship.