Russian anger at Ukraine’s EU pact
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UKRAINE has signed a historic free-trade agreement with the European Union that has been at the heart of months of violence and upheaval, drawing an immediate threat of “grave consequences” from Russia.
Georgia and Moldova signed similar deals, holding out the prospect of deep economic integration and unfettered access to the EU’s 500 million citizens, but alarming Moscow, which is concerned about losing influence over former Soviet republics.
All three countries have made clear their ultimate goal is membership of the bloc but Brussels, under pressure from voters weary of further EU expansion, has made no promise it will allow them in.
Ukraine’s former pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych turned his back on signing the EU agreement last November in favour of closer ties with Russia, prompting months of street protests that eventually led to his fleeing the country.
Soon afterwards, Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region, drawing outrage and sanctions from the United States and the EU, and pro-Russian militants began an uprising in eastern Ukraine that has claimed hundreds of lives.
“Over the last months, Ukraine paid the highest possible price to make her European dreams come true,” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told EU leaders at a signing ceremony in Brussels, calling it the most important day for his country since independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991.
He signed the agreement with the same pen that had been prepared for Yanukovych to sign the document last year.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin immediately said the signing would have “grave consequences” for Ukraine.
Shortly after the pact was signed, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukrainian society was split after being forced to choose between Europe and Russia.
“The anti-constitutional coup in Kiev, the attempts to impose an artificial choice between Europe and Russia have pushed society to a split, to a painful internal confrontation,” Putin said in Moscow.
“Ukraine must return to a path towards peace, dialogue and agreement,” he said.
“The main thing is to ensure a long-term cease-fire as a necessary condition for holding thorough negotiations between Kiev authorities and representatives of the southeast regions. We are sincerely trying to assist in the peace process,” Putin added.
Putin has urged Kiev to grant more autonomy to the Russian-speaking regions and extend Kiev’s one-week cease-fire which was announced last Friday and was set to expire last night.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would take measures to protect its economy if it is negatively affected by the agreements, the RIA news agency reported.
“As soon as the implementation starts, there can be talk of some protective measures,” he said. “Everything needed to protect our economy will be undertaken.”
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said there was nothing in the agreements that would harm Russia in any way.
Poroshenko urged the EU to reward Ukraine for its sacrifices by promising the country would be eligible for membership of the EU once it was ready. The pledge would “cost the EU nothing but would mean the world to my country,” he said.
Van Rompuy said the agreements with the three countries were “not the final stage of our cooperation,” but this fell short of the prospect of ultimate EU membership.
Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leanca has also set his sights on EU membership, saying on Thursday he hoped his country would apply to join in the second half of 2015.
Russia, which fought a five-day war with Georgia in 2008, has met previous attempts by its neighbors to move closer to the EU with trade reprisals and EU officials fear the same thing could happen again.
EU officials say that, in diplomatic talks, Russia has threatened to withdraw the duty-free treatment that Ukraine currently benefits from as a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) free trade pact.
One senior EU official called the Russian threat “deeply shocking” while another said such a move would violate the CIS agreement and World Trade Organization rules.
If Russia imposed customs duties, it would put at risk some of Ukraine’s exports, which mainly consist of base metals, grains, machinery, equipment and processed food. Ukraine sends 24 percent of its exports to Russia, worth US$15 billion a year.
As part of the deal, the EU will insist Ukraine meet its standards on human rights and democracy, fights corruption, strengthens the rule of law and reforms its economy.
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