Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's recent phone conversation with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso could be the reason for the cancellation of the Ukrainian president's visit to Russia, the director of the Kyiv Center for Political and Conflict Studies, Mykhailo Pohrebynsky, has said.
“As of the evening of the day before yesterday, as far as I know, everything was agreed, they were going to sign some document on the gradual accession of Ukraine to the Customs Union. It is difficult to say what happened yesterday. Nothing special happened, except for a conversation with Barroso. Could the conversation with Barroso have influenced the evaluation of the document by the Ukrainian side? It is difficult to say, but I don’t rule out such possibility,” he told Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.
Pohrebynsky said the sides might have doubts about some details of the agreement they intended to sign, and that is why the visit was cancelled.
According to him, if Yanukovych visited Moscow, a memorandum could be signed between the sides obliging them to go through some stages, with further prospects to receive permanent membership of the Customs Union.
“They were supposed to sign a document, a roadmap, which would, in particular, envisage a reduction of the gas price, management and modernization of Ukraine’s gas system,” the expert said.
Director of the Penta Center for Applied Political Studies Volodymyr Fesenko in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine mentioned three possible reasons for the cancellation of the visit.
“The first version is that the sides failed to find a compromise, as Ukraine is not ready for full accession to the Customs Union, and partial accession is not enough for Russia. Another variant is that people that think joining the Customs Union is a mistake managed to make Yanukovych change his mind. The visit also could have been cancelled due to the state of health of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin,” he said.
