EU ‘continues working’ with Ukraine

The EU reiterated on Tuesday that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s visit to Brussels had not been cancelled but postponed and that it was committed to further cooperation with Ukraine. Yanukovych was due to arrive in Brussels to meet with European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso and EU Council chief Herman Van Rompuy on Thursday to discuss outstanding details of an association agreement. "We are continuing to work with Ukraine," EU Commission spokeswoman Karolina Kottova said. She dismissed the view that the EU was pushing Ukraine into Russia’s arms, adding that the EU was awaiting another opportunity to discuss important matters on the EU-Ukraine agenda. The EU is committed to an association agreement with Ukraine but it was unlikely to be signed during an EU-Ukraine summit set for mid-December, she said. Earlier on Tuesday EU spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said the visit was postponed "until a later occasion when conditions would be more conducive to make progress on bilateral relations." Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the postponement, but said it was initiated by Kiev, not by Brussels. Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Dikusarov said that Ukraine was interested in continuing dialog with the EU “in the very near future.” The cancellation comes a week after Yanukovych’s political rival Yulia Tymoshenko received a seven-year prison sentence on charges of abuse of office. The verdict has drawn worldwide condemnation. The EU and the United States have described the trial as politically motivated, and Moscow said it had a “clear anti-Russian subtext.” The EU move comes despite Yanukovych’s remarks last Thursday that Tymoshenko’s sentence might be commuted.