RT: The EU is utterly disappointed by Ukraine’s decision to align itself
closer to Russia and halt its preparations for signing a European trade
and political agreement, effectively killing the country’s chances to
eventually join the bloc.
“This is a disappointment not just for the EU but, we believe,
for the people of Ukraine,” EU foreign policy chief Catherine
Ashton said in a statement, claiming that “the most
ambitious” pact ever offered to a partner by the EU would
have helped the country’s economy.
The decree signed by Prime Minister Mykola Azarov's government on Thursday orders the “halt of the process of preparing the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union.”
The decision was taken to “ensure the national security of Ukraine” and “restore lost trade volumes with the Russian Federation” after considering the effects on trade relations with Moscow, legislators said.
The announcement follows the Ukraine parliament's earlier refusal to pass a bill that would see jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko allowed to travel abroad for treatment - a key EU deal condition for the summit that was scheduled in Vilnius, Lithuania, next week.
The EU envoy at the negotiations, Polish politician Aleksander Kwasniewski confirmed that the deal would not go ahead saying the “mission is over… The accord will not be signed in Vilnius.”
Many European politicians as well as Ukraine’s own opposition have already slammed Kiev’s decision.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt critcized Ukraine's decision, saying the “Ukraine government suddenly bows deeply to the Kremlin” due to the Russian “politics of brutal pressure.”
A “deep disappointment at the unilateral decision” was also voiced in a statement by EU envoys Aleksander Kwasniewski and Pat Cox, who highlighted what they call a “dramatically increased pressure from Russia in recent weeks.”
British Foreign Secretary William Hague in the meantime called the decision a “missed opportunity.”
Not all European countries however have adopted such a critical approach. It was Ukraine's “sovereign right to make a decision which path she wants to follow,” German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said.
"If Yanukovych is refusing to sign the agreement, then it is not only state treason but also grounds for the impeachment of the president and the dismissal of the government," he said in parliament.
People have begun flocking to Kiev’s main Square and home of 2004
Orange revolution. More than 1500 protesters with banners
gathered in the Maidan Square to voice their opposition to the
government’s decision, local media reports. A number of MPs have
also joined the protests, more are planned for this Sunday.
Police have cordoned off the presidential administration building as more security vans arrive at the scene.
Russia welcomed Ukraine's decision to actively develop ties with Moscow, while President Putin said he wasn't completely against Ukraine's association with EU. But trilateral trade talks should take place before Ukraine signs an agreement with the EU.
“We favor this, but only before decisions are made,” Putin said.“How can we hold negotiations on issues that have already been agreed upon and endorsed?”
As compared to hundreds of billions of euros channeled into Greek, Spanish and Portuguese economies, he said, one billion offered to Ukraine was inadequate and "ridiculous."
"It's a ridiculous amount compared to the resources allocated to rescue Southern Europe from bankruptcy," Zalewski said as cited by PR Newswire.
In the meantime Russia has the “means and willingness” to offer Ukraine what the EU lacks, which is money, Eric Kraus, Managing Director of Anyatta Capital told RT, adding that Ukraine is a “vital part” of the European Russian speaking space. “The European Union offers a lot of words,” Kraus said, implying that nothing tangible would have come out of the deal. “What they don’t offer is what Ukraine needs – and that’s money.”
“Ukraine is not vital to the EU,” Kraus explained. “It is a part of a geopolitical chess game and they’d like to take that piece. They are not going to spend a lot of money for it. They can’t, they’ve got Portugal, they’ve got Greece. Pretty soon they’ve got France.”
The financial analyst also explained the economic problems that Ukraine is facing.
“The problem is that Ukraine is in dire economic strains. Ukraine is 2-6 months from default. They cannot raise money in markets. They are running a deficit. They are having a lot of trouble keeping the currency stable.”
Source
Putin: EU blackmailing Ukraine over halt in trade deal
RT: Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the EU of "blackmailing" and “pressuring” Ukraine over its decision to suspend preparations for a trade pact with the bloc. He added that Ukraine’s decision will be clear in the next few days.
"When we heard (I just found out yesterday) that Ukraine has suspended – not canceled but suspended – negotiations with the EU and wants to review everything, we heard a threat from the EU to Ukraine up to the point of holding mass protests. This is pressure and blackmail," Putin said at a joint press conference with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in St. Petersburg.
Putin reiterated Russia's readiness to hold three-way talks with the EU and Ukraine on trade and the economy.
“President Yanukovych suggested that we should have three-way talks on these problems,” Putin said. “We are ready to participate in such talks, and this is in a way a test of how serious our European partners’ intentions are. It’s a test of how ready our European friends are to conduct negotiations on an equal basis, or the absence of such readiness.”
Putin added that there “shouldn’t be any politicizing” of the situation, adding that Turkey has a “big experience of negotiating with the EU” and Russia will ask the advice of Ankara on how to behave in this situation.
Erdogan smiled, and said it “was a not a joke,” as Turkey has 50 years’ experience of trade talks with the EU.
Ukraine’s integration with the EU is not a political issue, but an economic one, Putin added.
At one point in the press conference, Putin lightened the mood with a joke – at America’s expense.
A Russian journalist brought up the question of a phone call between Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his Lithuanian counterpart, Dalia Grybauskaite. Grybauskaite’s aide, Jovita Neliupšienė, claimed that Moscow had warned Kiev off the EU deal, the journalist said.
Putin replied he had no information about what was said in the call, but added, smiling, that maybe the question should be asked instead to the United States.
“I do not know what the president of Ukraine and the president of Lithuania were talking about. Maybe we can ask our American friends and they can tell us. But they haven’t said anything to us yet," Putin said, apparently referring to the latest scandal with the US National Security Agency’s surveillance program and their tapping of EU leaders’ phones.
Ukraine’s government signed a degree Thursday suspending preparations for the association agreement between Ukraine and the EU. Lawmakers said that the decision was taken after Kiev considered the effects of the association on its trade relations with Moscow.
Russia welcomed Kiev’s desire to rekindle ties with Moscow, and Putin said that he wasn't completely against Ukraine's association with the EU. The Ukrainian president however said that his country would continue its efforts towards European integration, despite the “difficulties.”
Putin said Friday that after Ukraine’s decision, the two countries now have a free trade zone agreement.
“It means that in many product groups, very sensitive to both countries, we have zero export and import tariffs. The level of customs protection of our territory in relations with EU partners is very different. We have achieved this status as a result of negotiations within the framework of the World Trade Organization, which were carried out over the past 17 years.”
If Ukraine signs a trade pact with the EU resetting its trade tariffs, then this would automatically affect Russia if it keeps its free trade zone with Ukraine, Putin said, adding that this could destroy entire sectors of the Russian economy.
Putin said that the competitiveness of Russian agriculture and a number of other industries had not yet met the European Union’s requirements. If Ukraine went ahead with its Euro-integration deal, Russia would be forced to cancel preferential tariffs with Kiev, he said.
Source/video
The decree signed by Prime Minister Mykola Azarov's government on Thursday orders the “halt of the process of preparing the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union.”
The decision was taken to “ensure the national security of Ukraine” and “restore lost trade volumes with the Russian Federation” after considering the effects on trade relations with Moscow, legislators said.
The announcement follows the Ukraine parliament's earlier refusal to pass a bill that would see jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko allowed to travel abroad for treatment - a key EU deal condition for the summit that was scheduled in Vilnius, Lithuania, next week.
The EU envoy at the negotiations, Polish politician Aleksander Kwasniewski confirmed that the deal would not go ahead saying the “mission is over… The accord will not be signed in Vilnius.”
Many European politicians as well as Ukraine’s own opposition have already slammed Kiev’s decision.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt critcized Ukraine's decision, saying the “Ukraine government suddenly bows deeply to the Kremlin” due to the Russian “politics of brutal pressure.”
A “deep disappointment at the unilateral decision” was also voiced in a statement by EU envoys Aleksander Kwasniewski and Pat Cox, who highlighted what they call a “dramatically increased pressure from Russia in recent weeks.”
British Foreign Secretary William Hague in the meantime called the decision a “missed opportunity.”
Not all European countries however have adopted such a critical approach. It was Ukraine's “sovereign right to make a decision which path she wants to follow,” German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said.
Call to impeach
Arseniy Yatsenyuk Ukrainian opposition leader and a former Minister of Economy called for President Viktor Yanukovych to step down."If Yanukovych is refusing to sign the agreement, then it is not only state treason but also grounds for the impeachment of the president and the dismissal of the government," he said in parliament.
Police have cordoned off the presidential administration building as more security vans arrive at the scene.
EU integration roadblock
After the cabinet's decision, EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele canceled his Friday trip to Kiev. President Yanukovych, however said that despite “difficulties” his country would continue towards European integration.Russia welcomed Ukraine's decision to actively develop ties with Moscow, while President Putin said he wasn't completely against Ukraine's association with EU. But trilateral trade talks should take place before Ukraine signs an agreement with the EU.
“We favor this, but only before decisions are made,” Putin said.“How can we hold negotiations on issues that have already been agreed upon and endorsed?”
EU’s ‘ridiculous’ plan to help Ukraine
The European Union has actually done nothing to convince Ukrainian leaders that association with the EU would actually solve its economic crisis, Polish MEP Pawel Zalewski stated earlier this week.As compared to hundreds of billions of euros channeled into Greek, Spanish and Portuguese economies, he said, one billion offered to Ukraine was inadequate and "ridiculous."
"It's a ridiculous amount compared to the resources allocated to rescue Southern Europe from bankruptcy," Zalewski said as cited by PR Newswire.
In the meantime Russia has the “means and willingness” to offer Ukraine what the EU lacks, which is money, Eric Kraus, Managing Director of Anyatta Capital told RT, adding that Ukraine is a “vital part” of the European Russian speaking space. “The European Union offers a lot of words,” Kraus said, implying that nothing tangible would have come out of the deal. “What they don’t offer is what Ukraine needs – and that’s money.”
“Ukraine is not vital to the EU,” Kraus explained. “It is a part of a geopolitical chess game and they’d like to take that piece. They are not going to spend a lot of money for it. They can’t, they’ve got Portugal, they’ve got Greece. Pretty soon they’ve got France.”
The financial analyst also explained the economic problems that Ukraine is facing.
“The problem is that Ukraine is in dire economic strains. Ukraine is 2-6 months from default. They cannot raise money in markets. They are running a deficit. They are having a lot of trouble keeping the currency stable.”
Source
__________
Putin: EU blackmailing Ukraine over halt in trade deal
RT: Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the EU of "blackmailing" and “pressuring” Ukraine over its decision to suspend preparations for a trade pact with the bloc. He added that Ukraine’s decision will be clear in the next few days.
"When we heard (I just found out yesterday) that Ukraine has suspended – not canceled but suspended – negotiations with the EU and wants to review everything, we heard a threat from the EU to Ukraine up to the point of holding mass protests. This is pressure and blackmail," Putin said at a joint press conference with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in St. Petersburg.
Putin reiterated Russia's readiness to hold three-way talks with the EU and Ukraine on trade and the economy.
“President Yanukovych suggested that we should have three-way talks on these problems,” Putin said. “We are ready to participate in such talks, and this is in a way a test of how serious our European partners’ intentions are. It’s a test of how ready our European friends are to conduct negotiations on an equal basis, or the absence of such readiness.”
Putin added that there “shouldn’t be any politicizing” of the situation, adding that Turkey has a “big experience of negotiating with the EU” and Russia will ask the advice of Ankara on how to behave in this situation.
Erdogan smiled, and said it “was a not a joke,” as Turkey has 50 years’ experience of trade talks with the EU.
Ukraine’s integration with the EU is not a political issue, but an economic one, Putin added.
At one point in the press conference, Putin lightened the mood with a joke – at America’s expense.
A Russian journalist brought up the question of a phone call between Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his Lithuanian counterpart, Dalia Grybauskaite. Grybauskaite’s aide, Jovita Neliupšienė, claimed that Moscow had warned Kiev off the EU deal, the journalist said.
Putin replied he had no information about what was said in the call, but added, smiling, that maybe the question should be asked instead to the United States.
“I do not know what the president of Ukraine and the president of Lithuania were talking about. Maybe we can ask our American friends and they can tell us. But they haven’t said anything to us yet," Putin said, apparently referring to the latest scandal with the US National Security Agency’s surveillance program and their tapping of EU leaders’ phones.
Ukraine’s government signed a degree Thursday suspending preparations for the association agreement between Ukraine and the EU. Lawmakers said that the decision was taken after Kiev considered the effects of the association on its trade relations with Moscow.
Russia welcomed Kiev’s desire to rekindle ties with Moscow, and Putin said that he wasn't completely against Ukraine's association with the EU. The Ukrainian president however said that his country would continue its efforts towards European integration, despite the “difficulties.”
Putin said Friday that after Ukraine’s decision, the two countries now have a free trade zone agreement.
“It means that in many product groups, very sensitive to both countries, we have zero export and import tariffs. The level of customs protection of our territory in relations with EU partners is very different. We have achieved this status as a result of negotiations within the framework of the World Trade Organization, which were carried out over the past 17 years.”
If Ukraine signs a trade pact with the EU resetting its trade tariffs, then this would automatically affect Russia if it keeps its free trade zone with Ukraine, Putin said, adding that this could destroy entire sectors of the Russian economy.
Putin said that the competitiveness of Russian agriculture and a number of other industries had not yet met the European Union’s requirements. If Ukraine went ahead with its Euro-integration deal, Russia would be forced to cancel preferential tariffs with Kiev, he said.
Source/video
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