The Ukrainian parliament on Sept. 16 ratified a landmark EU pact that decisively steers the former Soviet state towards the West and away from Russian influence. President Petro Poroshenko told lawmakers the ratification of the association agreement - in a simultaneous vote with the European parliament in Strasbourg - was a "first step" towards membership of the European Union.
Ukraine-European Union Relations
Agence France-Presse: Ukraine ratifies landmark EU pact
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko shows a newly voted Ukrainian law about the ratification of the Ukraine-EU association agreement on Sept. 16, 2014 at the Ukrainian Parliament in Kyiv.
