Two years ago, on November 21, 2013, the BBC reported that Ukraine had suspended preparations for a trade deal with the European Union. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) quoted Aleksander Kwasniewski, leader of the EU diplomatic mission to Ukraine, as saying that Kyiv would not sign an Association Agreement (AA) with the EU at the upcoming Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius on November 28-29.
The BBC noted: “A government statement said the decision [to suspend preparations for a free trade agreement] had been taken to protect Ukraine’s ‘national security.’ Hours earlier MPs rejected a bill that would have allowed jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko to leave the country – which the EU had demanded as a condition for the deal to proceed.”
RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service noted that Mr. Kwasniewski, who along with Pat Cox [former president of the European Parliament] had traveled numerous times to Ukraine as part of a special EU mission, told Poland’s TVN24 the Association Agreement would not be signed at the Vilnius summit. This came following the Ukrainian government’s decision to suspend preparations for signing the agreement.
RFE/RL’s report continued, “…A government decree on November 21 said the process was halted in order to fully analyze the impact of the planned agreement on industrial production and trade with Russia. Russia had been angered by the proposed deal, and has warned Kyiv of trade repercussions. Also, on November 21, the government proposed setting up a three-party trade commission between Ukraine, the European Union and Russia.”
“This is a decision by Ukraine, not Europe,” Mr. Kwasniewski underscored. “In essence, this is a request for a suspension in negotiations until such time as economic questions in Ukraine are put in order.”
EU leaders knew the gravity of the situation for Ukraine’s future in Europe. Roman Olearchyk of The Financial Times wrote: “Stefan Fule, the EU’s enlargement commissioner, is racing back to Kyiv on Thursday [November 21], making his second visit to the Ukrainian capital this week. His mission: to rescue historic association and free trade agreements that both sides say they hope to sign in Vilnius during an Eastern Partnership Summit next week. His chances are slim. Or perhaps that is just what Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s president, wants him to think.”
The stall gamble misfired for the Yanukovych administration and Russia, and sparked the Euro-Maidan protests (Revolution of Dignity) on November 24 that saw Mr. Yanukovych and his officials flee Ukraine to Russia and other countries beyond Ukraine. Later, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko signed the Association Agreement with the EU on June 27, 2014, in Brussels. It is awaiting the ratification by eight remaining signatories out of 31 member states from the European Union.
Source: “Kwasniewski: Kyiv will not sign AA at Vilnius summit,” The Ukrainian Weekly, November 24, 2013.