You're reading: Russian MP: EU is in ‘tactical’ split over Ukraine

The European Union is divided over the issue of signing the Association Agreement with Ukraine, but the EU is unanimous in its call for the resignation of Ukraine's current leadership, Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee, told Interfax on Monday.

“The impression is that a certain split is obvious within the EU,” he said.

The Brussels bureaucracy, including EU Commissioner for Enlargement
and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule, have chosen to ignore the
Ukrainian government, claiming that they will not hold any more talks on
the Association Agreement with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych,
Pushkov said.

According to the Russian parliamentarian, this position stems from
the Ukrainian government’s demand that the EU, apart from signing the
Association Agreement, should also consider granting Kyiv substantial
financial aid, which will allow Ukraine to pay off its debts and feel
more secure in terms of finances.

At the moment, the Association Agreement does not envisage this extensive support for Ukraine, Pushkov said.

“Some European politicians refuse to accept these Ukrainian demands,” he said.

The EU foreign policy chief, Baroness Catherine Ashton, and some
other political figures are pursuing a different policy in the EU, he
said.

“They believe that the door should be kept open both for Ukraine and
for the signing of the Association Agreement, which may be signed even
in a modified form, taking some of Ukraine’s wishes into consideration,
because, otherwise, Ukraine will sign a strategic cooperation treaty
with Russia and may receive this badly needed financial support from
Russia,” Pushkov said.

These two positions can be seen clearly in European officials’ statements today, he said.

“My feeling is that there is no unity in Brussels, which lacks any
clear understanding as to what to do with Ukraine and strongly fears
that Kyiv may sign an association deal with Russia, which would allow
Ukraine to emerge from its dire financial situation. In this case, the
European Union’s influence will naturally decline,” the Russian
parliamentarian said.

Pushkov, however, admitted that these differences are tactical.

“In my opinion, the EU has already made its strategic choice in favor
of weakening Yanukovych’s government, supporting his opponents,
directly participating in the internal political struggle in Ukraine and
working together with the United States to push for a replacement of
Ukraine’s current leadership by a new one, which, in effect, would be a
puppet regime installed by Western countries,” Pushkov said.

All EU political figures share this opinion, he added.