VILNIUS: Ukraine was under pressure to choose sides yesterday as an EU summit designed to draw six ex-Soviet states into the Western fold opened yesterday amid a tough East-West tussle.
The summit was originally due to have crowned an ambitious five-year bid by the European Union to reach out to states on its eastern flank, but days before the talks, Ukraine, the biggest prize, caved in to Moscow turning its back on the West.
Kiev’s surprise decision to scrap a landmark political and trade accord with the EU triggered a war of words between East and West reminiscent of the Cold War era, and sparked some of the biggest protests seen in Ukraine in a decade. Brussels insists the deal is “still on the table” despite the rebuff and Kiev says it could even still sign it.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was due to meet EU leaders in the Lithuanian capital and the country’s President Dalia Grybauskaite said efforts would continue tirelessly to pull him West. “Until the last minute negotiations continue over the Ukraine situation,” she told national radio. “Over 60 percent of people in Ukraine want this agreement. I anticipate difficult talks.” But the prospects for compromise at the two-day talks appeared limited.
“Low expectations at the Eastern Partnership summit”, the name of the EU drive to build closer ties with former Soviet nations in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, said global think-tank Stratfor. As pro-EU Ukrainians took to the streets, the president’s arch-foe, jailed former premier Yulia Tymoshenko urged EU states to refrain from fighting for her release — long a sticking point in the bid to seal the EU-Ukrainian deal.
“I passionately ask you to sign the agreement on Friday without any hesitation and conditions including those that are related to my release,” Tymoshenko said in a message on Wednesday. “It’s necessary to free Ukraine,” she said.
Afp
