BRUSSELS, March 11 - The European Commission agreed on Tuesday to give nearly 500 million euros ($685 million) worth of trade benefits to Ukraine, which had been teetering towards default even before pro-Western unrest in Kiev revived Cold War tensions, Reuters reported.

The Commission plans to remove duties on a wide range of agricultural goods, textiles and other imports in an effort to support the Ukrainian economy, which is heavily dependent on Russian energy supplies and running critically short of foreign currency to meet debts or finance imports.