Bildt: Yanukovych has problematic relations with EU leadership

Foreign Minister of Sweden Carl Bildt has said in an interview with the Kommersant-Ukraine newspaper that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has problematic relations with the leadership of the European Union.

"I don't know the schedule of his trips, but we should pay attention to the fact that Yanukovych rarely visits EU countries. I'm not saying that we're at the stage [of isolation], but this fact indicates there are problems in [our] relations. Your president holds so few meetings because your country has such a lot of problems," the minister said.

At the same time, Bildt said the EU leadership does not support the idea of isolating Ukraine and its citizens.

"We're not considering complete isolation. We don't want to apply it. It is important to us to retain personal contacts and we want Ukrainians to travel to Europe, and economic relations should also be supported. [But] the development of relations requires the interaction of top officials and integration mechanisms, and we don't have either," he said.