International

Ukraine leader 'intends to sign' trade pact, EU envoy says

US may impose sanctions if security forces intensify a crackdown on anti-government demonstrators

Protesters in Kiev on Wednesday.
2013 AFP

Ukrainian officials headed to Brussels Thursday as the European Union’s foreign policy chief suggested that the country's embattled president "intends to sign" at some point a trade and cooperation agreement he rejected last month.

Demonstrators angry over President Viktor Yanukovych's decision to shelve the long-anticipated agreement will be watching the meeting closely, amid concern that he could instead sign an agreement to join a Russian-led customs union when he and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet next week.

Yanukovych appears to be in a tight corner. As protesters furious over his decision to turn away from the EU clog the center of the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, he appears to be leaving his options open for the best deal he can get from his economically troubled country's powerful suitors.

Russia has put heavy pressure on Ukraine to join its bloc, which also includes Belarus and Kazakhstan. Putin used a state-of-the-nation address Thursday to tout the economic benefits of joining a customs union that he wants Ukraine to be part of.

"Our integration project is based on equal rights and real economic interests," Putin said of the customs union, which he wants to turn into a political and trading bloc to match the United States and China.

Yanukovych has said he is still open to the EU association agreement if terms can be worked out that provide more aid to his country, which is concerned about the impact of losing trade with Russia. The talks between the EU and the Ukrainian delegation, led by Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Arbuzov, could bring clarity on whether such aid is possible.

The United States on Wednesday announced that it may impose sanctions against Ukraine if security forces intensify a crackdown on anti-government demonstrators in the capital's Independence Square.

U.S. lawmakers said they were considering legislation to deny visas to Ukrainian officials or to freeze their American assets if violence escalates at the central protest camp. White House deputy spokesman Josh Earnest said the U.S. was "appalled" at how the government has handled the political crisis.

"The Ukrainian government's response to peaceful protests over the last two weeks has been completely unacceptable ... The right to peaceful protest and assembly must be respected," Earnest said.

The Kiev protests swelled to hundreds of thousands after police violently broke up two early rallies. Demonstrators are riding a wave of high morale after riot police stood down from two confrontations with protesters on Wednesday.

Squadrons of helmeted police were deployed at the protesters' tent camp in Independence Square and at the protester-occupied City Hall, but left hours later in the face of demonstrator defiance. Protesters are reinforcing their positions in Kiev's center, erecting sizable new barricades across streets leading to the square.

EU foreign policy head Catherine Ashton, who talked with Yanukovych and opposition figures in Kiev this week, said it was clear that the short-term economic and financial issues that Ukraine faces can be alleviated by signing the deal, which she said would bring in fresh investment from EU nations.

"Look, Yanukovych made it clear to me that he intends to sign the association agreement," Ashton said on arrival for a meeting in Brussels early Thursday after her visit to Kiev.

She said Ukraine's economic problems "can be addressed by the support that not only comes from the EU institutions, but actually by showing that he (Yanukovych) has a serious economic plan in signing the association agreement."

Al Jazeera and wire services

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