A Foreign Ministry spokesman told a news conference that Ukraine focuses on the humanitarian aspect in its policy toward the Iraq war, calling for preventative measures against possible use of weapons of mass destruction. He stressed that the Ukrainian anti-nuclear and anti-chemical troops deployed to Kuwait are only on humanitarian missions there, and will not join the US-led military actions against Iraq.

On March 26, US President George W. Bush openly numbered Ukraine as one of the more than 40 countries in a coalition with Washington in its war on Iraq, during a speech he delivered at the US Central Command in Tampa, Florida.

However, on the following day, Georgi Kryuchkov, chief of Ukrainian parliament's national security and defense committee, rejected the US allegation.

US embassy in Ukraine has said Bush made the statement on Ukraine's participation in the war coalition with the approval from the Ukrainian government.

When asked at the press conference on Tuesday if the government had agreed to join the war coalition at the US request, the foreign ministry spokesman said he is not authorized to make a comment on this.

(Xinhua News Agency April 2, 2003)