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| Ukraine's parliament rejects crucial Tymoshenko bill | Ukraine's parliament rejects crucial Tymoshenko bill |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Ukrainian MPs have rejected a bill that would have allowed the release of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, dealing a blow to Kiev's hopes of a trade deal with the EU. | Ukrainian MPs have rejected a bill that would have allowed the release of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, dealing a blow to Kiev's hopes of a trade deal with the EU. |
| They threw out six drafts of the bill which would have allowed Tymoshenko to travel abroad for medical treatment. | They threw out six drafts of the bill which would have allowed Tymoshenko to travel abroad for medical treatment. |
| The EU made her release a condition for signing a historic deal on closer ties with Ukraine next week. | The EU made her release a condition for signing a historic deal on closer ties with Ukraine next week. |
| But Ukraine came under intense pressure from Russia not to sign. | But Ukraine came under intense pressure from Russia not to sign. |
| Russia wants Ukraine to join its own customs union with Kazakhstan and Belarus, which it sees as a prototype rival to the European Union. | |
| The proposed drafts fell well short of the required number of votes to pass after failing to get the backing of MPs from President Viktor Yanukovych's ruling Regions Party. | |
| Opposition MPs responded by shouting "shame". | |
| Yulia Tymoshenko is serving seven years in jail after a controversial verdict which saw her convicted on charges of abuse of power over a gas deal with Russia. | |
| The EU has made clear it believes the judicial campaign against Tymoshenko has been politically motivated. | |
| She has been urging the authorities to transfer her to a German hospital so that doctors there can treat her chronic back pain. | |
| The EU is demanding her release as one of the conditions for signing an EU-Ukraine trade and partnership agreement in Vilnius, Lithuania, which starts on 28 November. |