US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Ukraine late Tuesday on the third leg of her European trip that has already taken her to Germany and Romania.

She is expected to meet Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko during the visit, which is to last less than 24 hours.

Rice held talks in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel before flying to Bucharest, where she signed an agreement to establish a permanent US military base in Romania.

She called the agreement a landmark deal as it marks the first ever US permanent military presence in a former Warsaw Pact country.

The last stop of Rice's five-day trip will be Brussels, where she will attend a NATO meeting.

Source: Xinhua