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EU warns Ukraine over rejection of free trade deal Ukraine's president fails to rescue pact for closer EU ties
(about 7 hours later)
The European Union told Ukraine it was risking its economic future by rejecting a free-trade deal in favour of closer ties with Russia, hours before a meeting between EU leaders and President Viktor Yanukovich on Thursday evening. Yanukovich flew into the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, in time for a dinner in honour of the Eastern Partnership, the EU's four-year-old outreach programme for former Soviet republics, including Ukraine. Ukraine's president has failed to salvage an ambitious free-trade pact with the European Union despite a warning that the country was risking its future by turning its back on the deal.
He had been expected to sign a far-reaching free-trade and political association deal with the EU at the Vilnius summit, the result of years of negotiation. But last week, following intense pressure from Moscow and growing concerns about Ukraine's dire economic situation, Yanukovich announced he was not ready to sign the EU deal yet and would instead focus on reviving economic dialogue with Russia. Viktor Yanukovich last week renounced plans to sign a trade and cooperation agreement with the EU at Thursday's summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, in favour of closer ties with Russia.
EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fuele said Ukraine's decision to walk away from the deal could imperil its future. Yanukovich still flew in for the meeting - held to discuss the Eastern Partnership, the EU's four-year-old outreach programme for Ukraine and five other east European countries.
At the meeting with EU leaders, including German chancellor Angela Merkel and British prime minister David Cameron, he detailed Ukraine's economic woes, citing the high price it pays for natural gas from Russia.
Yanukovich proposed starting three-way talks between Russia, Ukraine and the EU and urged Brussels to help Ukraine soften the terms of a possible loan from the International Monetary Fund, an EU diplomat said.
But the EU rejected trilateral talks and said Yanukovich must give a commitment to sign the agreement which he refused to give. "He had to make that leap of faith that he wasn't prepared to make," the diplomat said.
Merkel said she had no hope that the EU and Ukraine would reach agreement at the Vilnius summit, which ends on Friday, but she said the door remained open to Ukraine.
One EU diplomat said the agreement remained on the table but was unlikely to be signed in the next year.
"Ukraine's president talked not about the agreement ... but about the economic problems facing Ukraine and which need to be solved. He wanted these problems to be solved by the European Union and Russia together," Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite, whose country holds the EU presidency, said in a statement after the dinner.
An EU diplomat quoted Germany's Merkel as comparing the summit to turning up for an engagement only to find that more commitments were needed first. EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fuele said Ukraine's decision to walk away from the deal could imperil its future.
Disputing Ukraine's estimates that upgrading its economic base to European standards would cost £12bn a year, Fuele said: "The Ukrainian economy needs huge investments, but these are not costs. They represent future income, more growth, more jobs and more wealth."Disputing Ukraine's estimates that upgrading its economic base to European standards would cost £12bn a year, Fuele said: "The Ukrainian economy needs huge investments, but these are not costs. They represent future income, more growth, more jobs and more wealth."
Fuele added that the EU offer remained on the table.Fuele added that the EU offer remained on the table.
Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel, arriving in Vilnius, said the offer of closer trade ties was still open to Kiev but she had no hope of reaching an agreement at the summit.
Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker was less definitive but said Ukraine had yet to meet EU conditions for a deal.
Among conditions for a deal, the EU had asked that Ukraine addresses the issue of "selective justice" in its judiciary, an implicit demand that it addresses the fate of imprisoned former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, an arch rival of Yanukovich.Among conditions for a deal, the EU had asked that Ukraine addresses the issue of "selective justice" in its judiciary, an implicit demand that it addresses the fate of imprisoned former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, an arch rival of Yanukovich.
In an emotional appeal to the European Union, Tymoshenko's 33-year-old English-educated daughter, Yevgenia, made a plea on behalf of her mother, asking the EU not to turn its back on Ukraine.In an emotional appeal to the European Union, Tymoshenko's 33-year-old English-educated daughter, Yevgenia, made a plea on behalf of her mother, asking the EU not to turn its back on Ukraine.
"In the name of my mother, I ask you not to leave Ukraine without your protection. Without your support, we don't even have a chance for relatively honest elections, a partly independent press, the remains of political and economic competition and most importantly there will be no hope for positive change," she said."In the name of my mother, I ask you not to leave Ukraine without your protection. Without your support, we don't even have a chance for relatively honest elections, a partly independent press, the remains of political and economic competition and most importantly there will be no hope for positive change," she said.
Tymoshenko declared a hunger strike on Monday and has given her support to the tens of thousands of Ukrainians who have demonstrated in Kiev against the rejection of the EU deal.Tymoshenko declared a hunger strike on Monday and has given her support to the tens of thousands of Ukrainians who have demonstrated in Kiev against the rejection of the EU deal.
Several thousand protesters demonstrating against the Ukrainian government's decision to walk away from the EU deal gathered on Kiev's Independence Square on Thursday as Yanukovich arrived in Vilnius. A few dozen protesters also demonstrated outside the summit venue in Vilnius holding placards saying "Yanukovich, don't steal the future" and "We are Europeans". About 10,000 protesters demonstrating against the Ukrainian government's decision to walk away from the EU deal gathered on Kiev's Independence Square on Thursday as Yanukovich arrived in Vilnius. A few dozen protesters also demonstrated outside the summit venue in Vilnius holding placards saying "Yanukovich, don't steal the future" and "We are Europeans".
On the eve of the summit, Yanukovich told the EU to stop meddling in her case and appeared likely to retort that Tymoshenko's guilt had been proven in a Ukrainian court.On the eve of the summit, Yanukovich told the EU to stop meddling in her case and appeared likely to retort that Tymoshenko's guilt had been proven in a Ukrainian court.
He had set the scene for a chilly reception by dismissing the EU's trade offer as "humiliating". The £500m, or so, of support on offer was "candy in a pretty wrapper", he said.He had set the scene for a chilly reception by dismissing the EU's trade offer as "humiliating". The £500m, or so, of support on offer was "candy in a pretty wrapper", he said.
But his presence at the EU gathering - without signing the agreement - indicates he does not want to burn his bridges with the EU and leave his country's economic future solely to Russia, which wants Kiev to join a Moscow-led trade bloc. His government says the suspension of the EU deal marks only a "pause" in moves to integrate Ukraine into Europe's mainstream. But his presence at the EU gathering – without signing the agreement – indicates he does not want to burn his bridges with the EU and leave his country's economic future solely to Russia, which wants Kiev to join a Moscow-led trade bloc.
The EU side, however, said there was no readiness to enter into a geo-political bargaining game over Ukraine, likely a reference to possible increased financial aid.
"It was never a bazaar for billions. It was a question of giving Ukraine and the Ukrainian economy access to the largest integrated economic market in the world," said the Swedish foreign minister, Carl Bildt, who warned that Yanukovich's decision to abandon the EU deal left it vulnerable.
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