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EU's Ashton Meets Yanukovych As Parliament Debates

February 05, 2014
by RFE/RL

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton says 'a lot more work' needs to be done to resolve the confrontation in Ukraine between authorities and antigovernment protesters.

Ashton was quoted by the AFP news agency after meeting on February 5 in Kyiv with President Viktor Yanukovych and opposition figures.

A statement from the president's office said Yanukovych and Ashton discussed ways of stabilizing the political situation, as well as measures to implement economic reforms and to strengthen democratic institutions.

It said the talks also addressed public security issues and the need for investigations into recent events.

Earlier, opposition leader Vitali Klitschko said Ashton had 'assured us that Europe is ready to delegate high-level mediators for negotiations with the authorities.'

Ashton's push comes as U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, in his latest call to Yanukovych on February 4, urged the government to pursue dialogue and compromise and called for the 'immediate' pullback of riot police.

Opposition lawmakers in parliament, meanwhile, were expected on February 5 to again attempt to debate constitutional amendments that would curb the president's powers.

The parliament failed on February 4 to pass an opposition proposal that would bring back an older version of the Ukrainian Constitution in which the president's powers were limited.

Klitschko told reporters on February 4 that he thinks Yanukovych is stalling.

'But I have a feeling that the president wants to pass all the responsibility onto the parliament,' he added. 'I want to remind once again that the whole power today is in one pair of hands -- in the hands of the president of Ukraine -- and thus the whole responsibility is in his hands. Procrastination of this process only increases the temperature in the society.'

Ukraine has been gripped by protests since November when Yanukovych pulled out of a deal that would have brought closer relations with the EU in favor of stronger ties with Russia.

The Kremlin then pledged to provide Kyiv with some $15 billion in loans and to reduce the cost of Ukraine's energy imports from Russia.

Ashton and U.S. officials said in recent days that the EU and the United States might offer Ukraine some form of financial aid, though they would not try to compete with Russia's package.

Yanukovych is due to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on February 7 where they will attend the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics.

Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the two leaders will discuss 'bilateral ties.'

With reporting by AFP and AP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-ashton- meeting-yanukovych/25253747.html

Copyright (c) 2014. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.