Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has said at a meeting with EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule that he takes a pause in preparations for the signing of an association agreement with the EU in order to resolve economic problems with Russia.
Fule told this to reporters in Brussels on Friday.
“He [Yanukovych] described the economic situation in Ukraine as a result of, first and foremost, these measures [from Russia], to which the government referred [in its decision to suspend preparations for the signature of the association agreement]. He mentioned a conversation with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and said he considers taking a pause in preparations for the signature, which will help Ukraine get the time to resolve the problems arising from the use of these measures,” he said.
Fule said that at the time of his meeting with the Ukrainian president there was no official decision on the pause.
“When we met, he clearly said that no decision had been made. At that time Prime Minister Mykola Azarov spoke with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and he also said that the government was working on measures to resolve these economic consequences and the impact of the measures to which the government referred yesterday,” he said.
When asked to comment on the reasons for the cancellation of his visit to Ukraine, which was to be made on November 21, Fule said that he earlier planned this visit to continue consultations.
“I planned to meet with Prime Minister Azarov [on Thursday] and with the opposition and civil society on Friday, but then I saw the government’s decision, and I thought that it would be more important to work here, trying to find the meaning of this. So I stayed in Brussels,” he said.
Fule also said that during a phone conversation between European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and President Yanukovych the Ukrainian president wanted a personal meeting with Barroso.
“He [Barroso] wanted it very much, as they had a good communication. But because of his trip to Asia he was unable to satisfy Yanukovych’s request, and at that time my agenda has already included a trip to Ukraine,” Fule said.
