The last time EU leaders met the six ex-Soviet countries in the bloc’s Eastern Partnership program in Vilnius, Lithuania, in late 2013, a cataclysm ensued: within months, Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted by protesters after declining to sign an EU integration deal at the meeting. Russia annexed Crimea, and war broke out in east Ukraine.
Financial Times: After Ukraine crisis, EU appears to trim its eastern ambitions
Former Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych (C) arrives for a meeting with his French counterpart (not in picture) during the European Union's Eastern Partnership summit on November 29, 2013 in Vilnius, Lithuania.
