EU was ready to sign agreement with Ukraine even before Tymoshenko's release - EU source
VILNIUS. Nov 29 (Interfax) - The EU leadership proposed to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych that he sign an association agreement during the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius even though Kyiv did not comply with all preconditions for this, a source with the delegation of one of the EU countries present at the summit told Interfax.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy suggested to Yanukovych that the agreement be signed now, but Yanukovych proposed doing it in 2014, the source said.
The EU did not support Yanukovych's proposal, telling him that, if he wanted to sign the agreement, it should be signed now, as students were protesting on the streets in Ukraine, he said.
Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's release from prison was among the key preconditions for signing an association agreement between the EU and Ukraine.
