Kyiv is rife with speculation that a secret deal was struck during Rumsfeld’s visit. The Kyiv Weekly, a newspaper formerly owned by Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk’s son but recently purchased by the Industrial Union of the Donbas, reported that a quid pro quo had, in fact, been agreed between Rumsfeld and Kuchma. Under the alleged deal, what “Ukraine provides to the U.S. in Iraq is the main guarantee that Washington does not subject Kyiv to being ostracized in the event of dubious results in the Ukrainian presidential election”

You can find the full article at: http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=401&issue_id=3055&article_id=2368445

This seems to be a particularly egregious example of the ways this administration keeps the “coalition of the willing” together. W had nothing to brag about. And Kerry’s criticisms about current members of the coalition may very well be what’s needed to convince other countries that we are ready to find an international solution to Iraq.