Ukraine signs EU deal that sparked months of upheaval
Brussels, Belgium (CNN) — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a cooperation agreement with the European Union on Friday, the same deal whose reversal set off a crisis in the nation.
His predecessor’s decision to shun the deal last year and work with Russia instead unleashed deadly strife that led to the ouster of the nation’s President, the loss of Crimea and a pro-Russia separatist rebellion.
Sealing the deal is the second-most important moment in Ukraine’s history, Poroshenko said. The first, he said, was its independence from Russia.
Poroshenko said the signing “shows how dramatically things can change in a short time, if the will of the people is strong enough.”
And he paid tribute to Ukrainians who lost their lives when protests over closer ties with Europe turned bloody.
He used the same pen intended for use in November, before former President Viktor Yanukovych turned his back on the agreement in favor of closer ties with Moscow.
The EU-Ukraine Association Agreement calls for a free trade zone and for Ukraine to adhere to European values such as democracy and human rights. It will allow for the country to participate in common border protection and security processes.
In remarks before the signing, the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, also remembered those who died in Ukraine.
“In Kiev and elsewhere, people gave their lives for this closer link to the European Union,” he said. “We will not forget this.”
Van Rompuy said that closer political and economic ties would bring greater security, stability and prosperity to Ukraine and the two other former Soviet states also signing EU Association Agreements on Friday, Georgia and Moldova.
“Our joint goal is your full integration into the market of the European Union,” Van Rompuy told the three leaders.
He also stressed that Russia had nothing to fear from those nations’ closer ties with Europe, adding that the European Union would engage with Russia to work for peace.
Escalating conflict?
As Ukraine’s government works to quell the violence in the country’s east, Poroshenko said Thursday that negotiations with Russian separatists in that area will continue Friday, the day his unilaterally declared cease-fire expires.
Peace is possible if Russian President Vladimir Putin is in the right mood, he said.
“Sometimes, the position of Mr. Putin is quite pragmatic, sometimes it is very emotional,” Poroshenko told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Thursday in an exclusive interview.
“I just try to find out the time when he is more pragmatic than emotional.”
The talks are intended to end fighting that threatens to escalate into a broader conflict.
“I am optimistic and I’m thinking that within a few weeks, maybe months, we can have a deal to establish peace,” Poroshenko said from Brussels.
Putin has agreed to negotiations that will include an EU representative, Poroshenko said. “We do not expect any immediate negative reaction,” he said. “I’m ready to make a peace deal with anybody,” he said.
He is also ready to fight if necessary, but said, “I hate the idea not to use the last opportunity to bring the peace to the region.”
At the same time, he made clear that in his mind, the Russian annexation of Crimea — which has an ethnic Russian majority — cannot stand.
Crimea is Ukrainian, he said.
He made the same point in his remarks Friday, when he said that “all Ukraine, including Crimea” will be associated with the European Union.
Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a tense standoff since the annexation in March, when Russia also massed troops along its western border with Ukraine.
Cease-fire running out
Despite Poroshenko’s cease-fire declared last week, violence continues.
On Thursday, a Ukrainian national guard base came under attack in Donetsk, Anti-Terrorist Operation unit spokesman Vladislav Seleznyov said. Ukrainian troops were able to repel the attack, but were bracing for another assault.
Two days earlier, Ukrainian authorities said pro-Russia militants shot down a military helicopter in eastern Ukraine, killing nine.
Friday’s negotiations must show some progress before his unilateral cease-fire expires at the end of the day, the President said. He seeks a commitment to negotiations, the release of hostages, a mutual cease-fire and the withdrawal of Russian-backed forces from Ukraine.
“All the troops on Ukrainian territory are Russian, they are Russian citizens,” he alleged, adding that separatist leaders were from the Russian secret service. “If that continues, it is a real war.”
Putin has shown signs of detente.
On Wednesday, Russia’s upper house of parliament voted, at his request, to revoke the President’s right to use troops in Ukraine.
Poroshenko said the Russian President recently vowed not to take economic revenge for the move of the former Soviet satellite state toward the West.
CNN’s Mick Krever reported from Brussels, while Laura Smith-Spark wrote and reported from London and Ben Brumfield from Atlanta. CNN’s Tom Cohen contributed to this report.
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/27/world/europe/ukraine-crisis/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
