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Ashton: Yanukovych Wants To Sign EU Deal

December 12, 2013
by RFE/RL

BRUSSELS -- European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has said Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych told her he still 'intends to sign' a key trade and cooperation agreement with the EU.

Yanukovych's last-minute refusal to sign the deal last month sparked the ongoing standoff with thousands of pro-EU protesters.

Ashton spoke to RFE/RL in Brussels on December 12 after she held talks with Yanukovych in Kyiv on December 10-11.

She said the economic concerns mentioned by Yanukovych during their meetings could be alleviated by signing the Association Agreement, which will bring in fresh investment.

'[President] Yanukovych made it clear to me that he intends to sign the Association Agreement,' Ashton told RFE/RL. 'What he talked about were the short-term economic issues that the country faces, and it is my view that those challenges, which are real, can be addressed by the support that not only comes from the European Union institutions but actually by showing that he has a serious economic plan. And signing the Association Agreement also will help bring in the kind of investment that he needs.'

Ukrainian Deputy Premier Serhiy Arbuzov is expected to meet European Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele in Brussels on December 12 to discuss the Association Agreement.

Protests Continue

Protesters see Yanukovych's refusal to sign the deal as proof of pressure on Kyiv from Moscow, which would like Ukraine to join the Russian-led Customs Union.

Russian President Vladimir Putin used a state-of-the-nation address to highlight the economic benefits for Ukraine if it joins that union.

Putin, however, said it is Kyiv alone that will decide whether or not to join the union.

Thousands of demonstrators continue to occupy sites in central Kyiv after an aborted attempt by riot police to clear the streets early on December 11.

Protesters overnight fortified their positions in Independence Square, filling plastic sacks with snow which they used as sandbags, as well as pouring water over the barricades in sub-zero temperatures.

More than 1,000 people marched to the Prosecutor-General's Office in Kyiv on December 12 to demand the release of detained demonstrators, whose exact numbers remain unknown.

'I said it many times that the only possible way forward is the way of reconciliation and understanding,' Yanukovych said on December 11. 'Actions of all sides should take place exclusively within the framework of the law and Ukraine's constitution. I'm calling on representatives of all political forces, reverend fathers, civil society representatives, to an overall national dialogue. I'm personally ready to take part in such a roundtable.'

Ukrainian opposition leaders have rejected the president's offer of 'national dialogue' and insisted on the government's resignation.

'On the one hand the president says he wants to sit at the roundtable, but on the other hand he sends out the police to disperse the people and it is contrary to all proposals,' Vitali Klitschko, one of the leaders of the opposition, told a news conference in Kyiv on December 12. 'Our demands have not changed, I want to say it again.'

The European Parliament called on December 12 for a delegation of lawmakers to visit Ukraine and declared its solidarity with the protesters, condemning the use of force as 'brutal and unacceptable.'

U.S.-based group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has issued a statement calling on Ukrainian authorities to refrain from excessive force and on protesters to abstain from acts of violence.

The U.S. State Department, meanwhile, said sanctions against Ukraine's government are an option in case of a violent response by Ukrainian authorities to the protests.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that Washington has been discussing a possible response with European leaders and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

'Getting back into a conversation with Europe and with the IMF and bringing, of course, justice and dignity to the people of Ukraine, is what our strong message was on the ground,' Psaki said. 'All policy options including sanctions are on the table, in our view, but obviously, that is still being evaluated.'

The Pentagon, meanwhile, said Ukrainian Defense Minister Pavlo Lebedev had told U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that no Ukrainian armed forces would be used against demonstrators.

Based on reporting by RFE/RL Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak, AFP, Reuters, and dpa

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-opposition- rejects-talks/25198018.html

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Ashton: Yanukovych Wants To Sign EU Deal