KIEV, March 13 – President Viktor Yanukovych on Wednesday signed a decree that urges the government to implement measures that ensure signing of a key political association and free-trade agreement with the European Union.

The decree follows a meeting at the National Security and Defense Council, the top security body under the president, on Tuesday to outline the measures required for securing the agreements.

“The president has demonstrated more than once the political will towards approaching the EU and the European structures,” Yuriy Myroshnychenko, a key aide to Yanukovych, said in an interview with Channel 5 on Wednesday. “So, the political will is there.”

He responded to speculations that Yanukovych may not have sufficient political will to take Ukraine closer to the EU, while instead working quietly to have a stronger alliance with Russia.

The decree comes after EU leaders, at a summit on February 25, gave Yanukovych three months to show progress with improving judicial and election systems, and to launch other reforms designed to take Ukraine closer to European political standards.

Among the most important demands mentioned by European officials is the release of jailed opposition leaders Yulia Tymoshenko and Yuriy Lutsenko. Both were described by the European officials as cases of selective justice.

The failure to meet the deadline in May would most likely postpone the agreement for years, seriously complicating the country’s chances of reforming its economy and achieving robust economic growth.

It would also push Ukraine towards Russia’s political orbit and may force Kiev to join the Customs Union, a Moscow-led political and trade bloc, which also includes Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Ukraine hopes to sign the agreement at an EU-Ukraine summit in Vilnius in November. The May deadline was given because some time would be needed after that to tie up any loose ends if the agreement is to be signed at the summit.

Myroshnychenko said that the decree is aimed at solving complicated tasks that Ukraine faces, including measures that would address the fate of Tymoshenko, the most sensitive issue.

“How does the decree help to solve the case of Tymoshenko? As you know, this decree enacts decisions approved by the National Security and Defense Council,” Myroshnychenko said.

“In a section that refers to the Justice Ministry, it stresses on the need to implement a number of steps in cooperation with EU representatives and experts to make sure that those complex legal matters that you are talking about are solved in civilized way within the European standards,” Myroshnychenko said.

“So, the decree has been issued and the president expects that legislation and other legal acts will be prepared in the near future or other solutions will be suggested to the Ukrainian society, Parliament and the president,” Myroshnychenko said. (tl/ez)