Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych postponed his Dec. 18 Moscow trip today during which he was supposed to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss trade and energy relations, in particular the trilateral Customs Union.
Russia has promised Ukraine cheaper natural gas if Kyiv
joins the Russia-led trade bloc with Belarus and Kazakhstan. The last-minute cancellation left many wondering what is
going on what it means for the country.
The official explanation, published on the president’s
website, says the meeting was delayed due to the “need for additional expert-level
consultations.”
Meanwhile, in Moscow, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov told
reporters Yanukovych would not meet Putin as planned because more time was
needed to prepare documents they had planned to sign.
Yanukovych was to meet Putin to discuss bilateral cooperation
in trade and energy, and in particular, “the development of a mutually
beneficial mechanism for reciprocal action of Ukraine in the Customs Union,”
the Ukrainian presidential website stated.
Apparently the trip cancellation was so abrupt that
the president’s pool of journalists who travel on commercial flights left for Moscow on the early
morning of Dec. 18.
“We left Kyiv at 6.20 a.m., arrived in Moscow and when
we were close to the Ukrainian embassy we were informed that the visit was
cancelled,” said Halyna Hromik, a journalist with Interfax news service.
She added that the
pool received no explanation for what had happened.
“They told us to read the statement on president’s website.
Now we have a flight back to Kyiv for the evening,” said Hromik.
Previously Russian Ambassador Mikhail Zurabov said
Yanukovych’s visit to Moscow would take place only if there were agreements to
sign with Putin.
“The very fact of the visit will mean that we have
come close to practical agreements. The visit will be organized with the goal
of sealing this agreement not only with a handshake but with signing of documents.
I mean, among other, agreements in the energy sector,” Zurabov said on Dec. 12
speaking to journalists.
He added that the visit will take place only if “there
will be something to agree on”.
Experts think that both sides did not reach any agreement
or that Yanukovych was persuaded to delay his visit in order to see how the
Feb. 25 European Union-Ukraine summit plays out.
Expressing fear that Yanukovych would have relinquished
autonomy for cheaper gas during his visit, the opposition in parliament
rejoiced about the cancellation.
“The opposition is purchasing airfare for the president to Brussels, this is
where we should be,” said opposition lawmaker Arseniy Yatseniuk in parliament
today.
Most experts doubt Yanukovych was about to join the
Russia-led Customs Union of former Soviet republics, but that he might have
considered signing a deal of stronger ties with the union usually referred to
by Ukrainian diplomats as the “3+1 formula.”
“This is not the first time when five minutes before the
signing of a document Yanukovych backs off… He might have been persuaded to
wait until the situation with the Association Agreement with the EU becomes
clear,” said Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Penta think tank in Kyiv.
“The Ukrainian government sees that Europe
shows some flexibility and is ready to sign the document. If this is done, the
position of Yanukovych in negotiations with Putin will be much stronger than
they are now,” Fesenko adds.
Putin previously made it clear that Russia is ready to
negotiate lowering Gazprom’s natural gas price for Ukraine if the country joins
the Customs Union, something that Ukraine has thus far been reluctant to do.
Kyiv Post staff writer Svitlana Tuchynska can be reached at [email protected]
