BRUSSELS: The European Union on Friday signed an agreement for closer political and economic cooperation with Ukraine.
The association agreement, signed by the Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk and the European Union leaders on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels, is designed to give Ukraine’s interim leadership economic and political support.
In a statement, the European Council president Van Rompuy said that the agreement would bring Ukraine and its 46 million people closer to the heart of Europe and a “European way of life”.
“(This) recognizes the aspirations of the people of Ukraine to live in a country governed by values, by democracy and the rule of law, where all citizens have a stake in national prosperity,” he said.
The EU plans to move ahead with signing a free-trade agreement with Ukraine, giving the country unfettered access to the EU’s market of 500 million consumers after Ukraine has held presidential elections on May 25 and a new administration is in place.
Russian parliament approves treaty to annex Ukraine’s Crimea region
On the other hand, the upper house of the Russian parliament unanimously ratified an international treaty with Crimea, which accepts the former Ukrainian region as a new part of Russia.
The parliament also passed a bill amending the Russian constitution to allow for the addition of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to the list of administrative parts of the Russian Federation.
