You're reading: Ashton: Ukraine talks should go on despite Tymoshenko

BRUSSELS, Oct 12 (Reuters) - The European Union should keep negotiating a trade pact with Ukraine despite the jailing of its former prime minister, but should not sign the deal unless Kyiv shows a commitment to shared values, the EU foreign policy chief said on Wednesday.

EU officials have said relations with Ukraine could be hurt by the prosecution of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, which Brussels describes as politically motivated. Tymoshenko was jailed on Tuesday for seven years for abusing her office by signing a gas deal with Russia that Ukraine now says was unfair.

Responding to the Tymoshenko verdict, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton told the European Parliament an offer to conclude an Association Agreement on closer trade and political ties with Kyiv should not be taken off the table.

"I believe we should not walk away from the technical negotiations but continue them with the aim of having before us on the table, a document which makes it clear to both sides what is possible — and also what will be lost," Ashton said.

"But we can only sign such an agreement if we are convinced that the Ukrainian leadership believes in the values on which it is based, and is committed to upholding," she said.

The creation of a free trade zone with the EU, a key part of the Association Agreement, holds out huge opportunity for Ukraine, an exporter of steel, chemicals and grain, and for the industrialists who are important backers of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich.

Negotiations on the wide-ranging agreement are close to conclusion, and EU officials said it has been envisaged that the deal would be initialled by both sides at a summit in December. It would also need to be approved by the European Parliament and ratified by individual EU states.

On Tuesday, members of the European Parliament sharply criticised Tymoshenko’s sentence and some called for a suspension of talks with Kiev.

A trade sub-committee postponed a vote on the talks, potentially delaying a process by which the European Parliament is to approve guidance for negotiations.

Ashton said she would be discussing Ukraine with the president of the council of EU states, Herman Van Rompuy, and European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, on Thursday.

She said she had noted Yanukovich had expressed unhappiness at Ukraine’s criminal code and recognised the need to change it.

"But frankly this is not enough," she said. "It does not excuse the authorities from the responsibility to guarantee a process fully in line with international standards."

Yanukovich is due to visit Brussels on Oct. 20. An EU diplomat said he would hear "some unfiltered language" from Barroso then.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko denied Tymoshenko’s trial was politically motivated and said he expected to move ahead with a cooperation agreement with the European Union this year.

Most analysts believe Yanukovich will seek to appease EU leaders by finding a way to secure Tymoshenko’s early release, and press ahead with the trade deal despite risking the ire of Russia — the main supplier of gas to Ukraine and Europe.

EU diplomats have urged Yanukovich to use his powers to "decriminalise" the charge against her — reclassifying it as an administrative rather than a criminal offence — to allow her to go free. On Tuesday, Yanukovich hinted this might still be on the cards.