KIEV, June 20 – German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle is to arrive in Ukraine Friday amid growing speculation the parties are in talks over possible medical treatment of jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in Germany.

Westerwelle will stop in Ukraine on his way to Lithuania, in a visit suggested by Germany, Deutsche Welle reported, citing the German Foreign Ministry.

Alyona Hetmanchuk, the head of the Institute of World Policy, a Kiev-based think tank, said Westerwelle will meet President Viktor Yanukovych and will discuss the possible relocation of Tymoshenko to Germany.

“In fact, the visit is for one meeting - with the president, and in fact for one message - concerning their readiness to host sick Tymoshenko,” Hetmanchuk wrote in her blog on Thursday.

The visit comes two days after reports emerged that the Ukrainian authorities are in talks with undisclosed Western countries over the possibility of allowing Tymoshenko get medical treatment overseas.

Tymoshenko, Yanukovych’s political rival, was sentenced to seven years in prison in October 2011, but had been repeatedly complaining over health issues, in particular over back pain. She was serving her jail sentence in a Kharkiv state-run hospital.

The plan to release of Tymoshenko for treatment in Germany has been apparently suggested by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and if successfully implemented may have political dividends, Hetmanchuk said.

“Imagine photos on front pages of German newspapers of Angela Merkel holding hands of freed and sick Tymoshenko, a symbol of Orange Revolution and a victim of political repression in Eastern Europe,” Hetmanchuk said. “That’s a nice gesture before the German elections.”

Tymoshenko’s imprisonment is seen as a major obstacle on the way of signing political association and free trade agreements between Ukraine and the European Union in November at a summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

The talks may be signaling a turnaround in the position of Yanukovych, who had earlier this year refused to pardon Tymoshenko because she was allegedly facing new charges of fraud and perhaps ordering a murder of a politician in 1996.

Tymoshenko denied any wrongdoings and said the persecutions have been carried out to punish her for opposition to Yanukovych.

Meanwhile, Oleksandr Yefremov, the leader of the ruling Regions Party group in Parliament, said that Yanukovych will probably not be able to pardon Tymoshenko until she pays the government more than $400 million.

The money is a debt allegedly owed by one of Tymoshenko’s companies to Russia’s Defense Ministry since 1990s. A Ukrainian court ruled in September 2012 that the debt must be paid to Russia by the Ukrainian government.

“The President cannot use this [pardon] mechanism, because we’re talking about some money issues with the state budget,” Yefremov said. “The president cannot approve a position decision and tell the people that the debt has been forgotten.”

Tymoshenko’s Batkivshchyna party on Thursday dismissed the allegations, adding that the government has mismanaged the economy to a point that it now seeks on money by putting pressure on political prisoners.

“Mr. Yefremov’s logic resembles the logic of Somali pirates who extort money from hostages,” Batkivshchyna said. “This is absurd and on the verge of sanity.” (tl/ez)