Ukraine suspends preparations for signing EU deal
KYIV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian government announced Thursday it was suspending its preparations for the signing of a landmark agreement with the European Union, playing hardball as it maneuvers between Moscow and Brussels ahead of a crucial summit next week.
The Cabinet’s decision follows the Ukrainian parliament’s refusal earlier Thursday to pass a bill allowing the release of jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a key EU demand, dimming the prospects of signing the deal.
The Cabinet said it made the move in order to study prospects for expanding trade with Russia and ensuring “parity” in its ties with the EU. It suggested setting up a trilateral commission involving officials from Ukraine, Russia and the EU to discuss trade issues.
Asked Thursday about the possibility of such trilateral talks, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin responded that Moscow would be ready to take part, but emphasized they must be held prior to the signing of a Ukraine-EU deal.
Putin said Russia would respect Ukraine’s choice if it signs an association agreement and a free trade deal with the EU, but will have to protect its market from cheap imports he said would flow from the EU to Ukraine and then to Russia.
The latest Ukrainian moves appear to signal a shift away from the EU toward Russia, which has worked aggressively to torpedo the EU-Ukraine deal and lure Kyiv into a Moscow-led economic alliance instead.
“Ukraine government suddenly bows deeply to the Kremlin. Politics of brutal pressure evidently works,” Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who has been a key advocate of the singing of the treaty, wrote on Twitter.
But some observers said it could also represent tough tactics by Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych, who may be hoping to persuade the EU to stop linking the deal to the release of a charismatic rival.
“My initial read is that this is just again bluff by Yanukovych … hoping the Europeans come running and cave in to his demands,” said Tim Ash, chief emerging-markets economist at Standard Bank in London. “He is taking a big risk here now of a public backlash, and he could be waving goodbye to re-election chances in 2015.”
Opposition leaders meanwhile, slammed the surprise Cabinet decision and tried to paralyze parliament’s work in protest. “This is not just treason, this gives grounds to impeach the president,” said Tymoshenko ally Arseniy Yatsenyuk, according to the Interfax news agency.
Vladimir Isachenkov contributed to this report from Moscow.