RIA Novosti: Ukraine, EU Discuss Integration as Protests Continue
MOSCOW, December 4 (RIA Novosti) The government of Ukraine said Wednesday that it has agreed on a roadmap for a future association agreement with the EU, which the former Soviet nation decided to delay last month.
Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Arbuzov met with the EU envoy to Ukraine Jan Tombinsky to agree on a sequence of negotiations needed before the pact can be sealed, the government said in a statement.
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets in Ukraine in protests sparked by the government’s decision to suspend preparations for political and trade deals with the EU that had been due for signing in late November.
The decision to schedule negotiations aimed at revisiting the issue suggests increased integration with the EU still remains high on President Viktor Yanukovych’s agenda, but that major developments are unlikely any time soon.
Ukrainian officials have said the move to back away from the long-planned EU deals in favor of closer economic ties with Russia was necessitated by the country’s parlous economic state.
Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov said Tuesday that a Ukrainian delegation would travel to Brussels Wednesday to hold further talks on European integration. He said another delegation would go to Moscow for talks with Russia.
