Ukraine ratifies landmark EU pact
Kyiv (AFP) – Ukraine is set to ratify a disputed EU agreement and offer limited self-rule to parts of the separatist east as it moves to turn the page on the bloodiest chapter of its post-Soviet history.
Lawmakers in the Ukrainian and European parliaments are scheduled to sign the 1,200-page political and economic association agreement during a live video hookup that begins on Tuesday, at 1000 GMT.
But the historic occasion has been muted by the two sides’ decision to bow to Russian pressure and delay until 2016 applying the free trade rules that pulled Ukraine out of a rival union being built by the Kremlin.