EU commissioner for enlargement exasperated by failure to obtain clear commitments from Ukraine
Europe froze its attempts to revive a political and trade integration pact with Ukraine on Sunday, exasperated by what it sees as the double standards practised by President Viktor Yanukovych in Kiev.
Stefan Füle, the EU commissioner for enlargement, who has spent years negotiating the deal with Kiev, said the plan was being put on hold because of Brussels' failure to obtain clear commitments from the Ukrainian side.
Yanukovych stunned Brussels last month by abruptly ditching the pact following years of talks, turning an EU summit in Lithuania into a debacle. Yanukovych's decision sparked the biggest protests in Ukraine for almost a decade and sent relations between Europe and Russia into deep chill, as Brussels sees the Kremlin as bullying Yanukovych into jilting Europe in favour of joining a Moscow-led customs union.
Füle tried to revive the integration project last week in talks with the Ukrainian deputy prime minister, Serhiy Arbuzov. He unveiled a roadmap aimed at finalising the accords, but only on condition that Yanukovych signalled that he was committed to signing the deal.
On Sunday Füle voiced his exasperation. "Told Arbuzov that further discussion is conditioned on clear commitment 2sign. Work on hold, had no answer," he tweeted. "Words and deeds of president and government further and further apart. Their arguments have no grounds in reality."
Füle argued that in the Ukrainian crisis, facts and figures were being deliberately distorted. "We have heard recently grossly exaggerated speculations about the alleged cost of Ukraine's modernisation linked to the [accords]. Frankly, many of the figures flying around are neither based on facts nor justified," he said.
"It is important to take a sober look at short and long-term benefits and not see related investments that would create a modern, competitive Ukrainian economy as a cost … Given the rapidly deteriorating economic and political situation in the country, the faster Ukraine clarifies its intentions, the faster we can both start and finish our work."
But there is little confidence in Brussels that Yanukovych can be trusted, whatever the embattled Ukrainian leader says. "I don't think Yanukovych will sign the accords," said a senior EU diplomat. "It's blackmail actually. He's saying he will only sign if he gets a lot of money. He's trying to manoeuvre between [EU and Russia], to get money or concessions. He's trying to avoid reforms, but the EU agreements are all about reforms."
EU foreign ministers will meet in Brussels on Monday to discuss their next moves. Senior diplomats admit that the Ukrainian fiasco has generated "lots of gloom" within the EU, with policymakers "beating themselves up" and accepting that they have been naive and complacent in their expectations of Moscow.
Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, is to have lunch with the EU ministers in Brussels on Monday, with diplomats predicting a rough exchange. Reported by guardian.co.uk 5 hours ago.
Europe froze its attempts to revive a political and trade integration pact with Ukraine on Sunday, exasperated by what it sees as the double standards practised by President Viktor Yanukovych in Kiev.
Stefan Füle, the EU commissioner for enlargement, who has spent years negotiating the deal with Kiev, said the plan was being put on hold because of Brussels' failure to obtain clear commitments from the Ukrainian side.
Yanukovych stunned Brussels last month by abruptly ditching the pact following years of talks, turning an EU summit in Lithuania into a debacle. Yanukovych's decision sparked the biggest protests in Ukraine for almost a decade and sent relations between Europe and Russia into deep chill, as Brussels sees the Kremlin as bullying Yanukovych into jilting Europe in favour of joining a Moscow-led customs union.
Füle tried to revive the integration project last week in talks with the Ukrainian deputy prime minister, Serhiy Arbuzov. He unveiled a roadmap aimed at finalising the accords, but only on condition that Yanukovych signalled that he was committed to signing the deal.
On Sunday Füle voiced his exasperation. "Told Arbuzov that further discussion is conditioned on clear commitment 2sign. Work on hold, had no answer," he tweeted. "Words and deeds of president and government further and further apart. Their arguments have no grounds in reality."
Füle argued that in the Ukrainian crisis, facts and figures were being deliberately distorted. "We have heard recently grossly exaggerated speculations about the alleged cost of Ukraine's modernisation linked to the [accords]. Frankly, many of the figures flying around are neither based on facts nor justified," he said.
"It is important to take a sober look at short and long-term benefits and not see related investments that would create a modern, competitive Ukrainian economy as a cost … Given the rapidly deteriorating economic and political situation in the country, the faster Ukraine clarifies its intentions, the faster we can both start and finish our work."
But there is little confidence in Brussels that Yanukovych can be trusted, whatever the embattled Ukrainian leader says. "I don't think Yanukovych will sign the accords," said a senior EU diplomat. "It's blackmail actually. He's saying he will only sign if he gets a lot of money. He's trying to manoeuvre between [EU and Russia], to get money or concessions. He's trying to avoid reforms, but the EU agreements are all about reforms."
EU foreign ministers will meet in Brussels on Monday to discuss their next moves. Senior diplomats admit that the Ukrainian fiasco has generated "lots of gloom" within the EU, with policymakers "beating themselves up" and accepting that they have been naive and complacent in their expectations of Moscow.
Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, is to have lunch with the EU ministers in Brussels on Monday, with diplomats predicting a rough exchange. Reported by guardian.co.uk 5 hours ago.