KIEV, Oct. 12 – There are indications that former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was Tuesday sentenced to seven years in prison, will be free soon, Yehvenia Carr, Tymoshenko’s daughter, told The New York Times Wednesday.

“All the signals indicate that before the 20th something should happen,” Carr said. “The result of the trial is already a big mistake, a big kind of technical error. It’s just the story of one person’s revenge.”

President Viktor Yanukovych is expected to visit Brussels on October 20. A person familiar with the thinking at the Yanukovych administration said earlier this month that Tymoshenko was likely to be released before that date.

The developments come as international pressure on Yanukovych has been growing dramatically with demands to release Tymoshenko, Yanukovych’s main political opponent.

Western leaders communicated to the leadership of Ukraine that failure to act may result in postponing Ukraine’s long awaited free trade and political association deals with the European Union.

There were reports on Wednesday that European leaders have been considering declining the meeting with Yanukovych unless progress is made in the Tymoshenko case.

The United States, in strong language in a statement issued by the While House, demanded on Tuesday release of Tymoshenko.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Tuesday the sentencing will have an impact on the EU’s policy towards Ukraine.

Russia also raised concerns about the verdict, suggesting that the development may affect Ukraine’s attempts to re-negotiate the 2009 gas agreement as Kiev seeks to reduce gas prices.

Hryhoriy Perepelytsya, a foreign policy specialist and professor at Kiev’s National University, said he believed that Yanukovych was in “a state of slight shock” at the international response.

Ukrainian officials had been watching the “reset” in relations between Russia and the United States, in which American officials undertook strategic projects with Russia despite complaints about the country’s democratic credentials, and thought the same would be true for Ukraine, Perepelytsya said.

The only window of opportunity for Yanukovych to release Tymoshenko will be to approve amendments on October 18 that lift criminal prosecution for exceeding authority by a political figure.

Tymoshenko was found guilty by Judge Rodion Kireyev at the Pecherskiy district court in Kiev on Tuesday of exceeding authority while ordering state energy company Naftogaz Ukrayiny to sign a 10-year gas agreement with Russia in January 2009.

Yanukovych already submitted a bill to Parliament earlier this month that replaces prison term with penalties and fines punishments for certain economic crimes.

The bill, which was approved in the first reading, did not contain amendments that would release Tymoshenko, but Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn said the amendment could be added during debate at the second reading on October 18. (tl/ez)