KIEV, Nov. 14 – The European Union will engage in negotiations with Ukraine seeking to get the country back on a democratic path, Polskie Radio reported Wednesday after a meeting between Polish and German leaders.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met and discussed the situation in Ukraine following the country’s parliamentary elections that opposition groups say have been rigged.

The plans of the talks suggest the EU may be seeking to avoid the worst-case scenario of suspending any relations with Ukraine in reaction to the manipulated elections. could push Kiev towards greater cooperation with Moscow.

Instead, the EU will try to hold the talks to try to resolve “various difficulties” through dialog, Polskie Radio reported on its Website citing Merkel.

Ukraine and the EU initialed the political association agreement earlier this year, but the signing of the deal had been postponed indefinitely due to problems with democracy, freedom of speech and continued pressure on opposition.

Yulia Tymoshenko, the leader of the largest opposition party Batkivshchyna and a former prime minister, was sentenced to seven years in jail in October 2011 for abuse of office.

The EU believes Tymoshenko’s sentence was politically motivated and used to crack down on a rival to President Viktor Yanukovych, who will seek to get re-elected in March 2015.

Tusk said if Ukraine demonstrates progress in the talks, it may be possible to sign the political association agreement in November 2013 during a summit of Eastern Partnership due in Vilnius.

Former European Commission President Romano Prodi said last month that the association agreement should be signed if Ukraine holds fair and free parliamentary elections.

But the opposition parties, including Batkivshchyna, accused Yanukovych of manipulations that had resulted in the opposition groups losing at least seven seats to pro-government candidates.

Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski spoke twice with Yanukovych after the elections – on November 4 and November 6 – to try to persuade the Ukrainian authorities to investigate the allegations and to make sure the problems are solved.

The Central Election Commission later moved to cancel elections in five majority districts, and plans to schedule new elections when legislation is approved.

But the opposition groups vowed to continue the protests and threatened to block sessions of new Parliament, unless the CEC re-counts the ballots and awards the seven seats to the opposition candidates.

Yanukovych’s Regions Party collected 185 seats in the 450-seat Parliament, while three opposition groups will jointly control 178 seats, according to the CEC.

Ukraine’s parliamentary elections were in focus of international leaders over the past seven days with U.S. President Barack Obama recently discussing the issue with his Polish counterpart.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, in a direct conversation with Yanukovych over the phone on Tuesday, expressed his concerned over reports of the election fraud. (tl/ez)