UJ.com

Top 2 

                        FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2024
Make Homepage /  Add Bookmark
Front Page
Nation
Business
Search
Subscription
Advertising
About us
Copyright
Contact
 

   Username:
   Password:


Registration

 
GISMETEO.RU
UJ Week
Top 1   

    
Nation    

Putin softens stance on Ukraine EU deals
Journal Staff Report

KIEV, Oct. 8 – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday may have softened his stance against Ukraine’s plans for signing free trade and political association agreements with the European Union.

Putin, speaking at the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Bali, Indonesia, said the move may cause trade difficulties, but will not cause any political problems between the two.

“This might cause problems with trade turnover and cooperation,” Putin said, Interfax-Ukraine reported. “But we will not have any problems in the political sphere, I'm sure.”

The surprise remark comes as Russian officials for two months have been predicting a financial disaster and catastrophe for Ukraine should Kiev sign the agreements with Brussels late November.

Moscow warned it would impose severe trade restrictions against Ukrainian imports that would hurt the Ukrainian economy. Instead, the Russian officials said, Ukraine should join the Moscow-led Customs Union trade bloc.

Putin’s remark comes a day after Belarus, a founding member of the Customs Union, said there would be “no problem” if Ukraine signs the agreements with the EU.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said it was only important that Ukraine does not shut its cooperation with the Customs Union completely.

Putin’s tough stance and intimidation rhetoric have been repeatedly credited by analysts for intensifying Ukraine’s increasing drift towards the EU.

The change of tone may be a sign that Putin will not try to change the policy by offering political concessions to Ukraine.

Ukrainian opposition leaders, who push for the EU agreements, said Putin may have changed his tactic, but the country should continue to move towards Europe.

“For half a year they have been shooting at Ukraine by using all their available arsenal of weapons, from economic tools to political pressure, and they finally have understood that we have survived,” Arseniy Yatseniuk, the leader of the opposition Batkivshchyna group, said. “Now, they pulled the carrot instead of the stick.”

Yatseniuk said Ukraine should continue reforms and approving legislation that complies with the EU before Moscow changes tactic again.

“We must look not at the statements, but at real actions,” Yatseniuk said. “But the real actions, unfortunately, remain the same: Russia putting pressure on Ukraine seeking to take it to the Customs Union.”

“This change of tactic is a temporary phenomenon and we must be ready for this,” he said.

Prime Minister Mykola Azarov hoped to use Lukashenko as an intermediary in negotiations with Russia seeking to prevent a trade war later this year.

But Putin on Tuesday suggested beginning consultations between Ukraine and Russia that will sort problems out.

“We hope our Ukrainian friends will talk to us too before making any steps,” Putin said. “And this is not an irony. We suggested holding a meeting with consultations at governmental level to examine all positive and negatives of our relations with our partners.” (tl/ez)




Log in

Print article E-mail article


Currencies (in hryvnias)
  28.03.2024 prev
USD 39.23 39.14
RUR 0.425 0.422
EUR 42.44 42.44

Stock Market
  27.03.2024 prev
PFTS 507.0 507.0
source: PFTS

OTHER NEWS

Ukrainian Journal   
Front PageNationBusinessEditorialFeatureAdvertisingSubscriptionAdvertisingSearchAbout usCopyrightContact
Copyright 2005 Ukrainian Journal. All rights reserved
Programmed by TAC webstudio