Ukraine Leader Visits Putin amid Pro-EU Rallies

Local Editor

Ukraine's embattled President Viktor Yanukovych leaves behind huge anti-government rallies on Tuesday to negotiate deals with Russia's Vladimir Putin that protesters fear will ruin their EU integration dreams.
The high-stakes Kremlin meeting comes two days after the European Union suspended partnership talks with Ukraine for a pact that had been aimed at pulling the ex-Soviet country out of Russia's orbit for the first time.

Brussels officials cited Yanukovych's continued courtship of Russia for their decision and demanded a firmer commitment to EU standards on political freedoms and economic reforms.

"Ministers confirmed again today the European Union's readiness to sign the (agreement) as soon as Ukraine is ready and the relevant conditions are met," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Monday after a ministerial meeting in Brussels.
He further stated: "We believe that the agreement provides the best way to address Ukraine's short-term economic challenges."

But Yanukovych will instead be hoping to win a multi-billion-dollar loan from Russia that his critics view as Putin's reward for Kiev's U-turn on the EU pact.
Yanukovych's abrupt decision last month to spurn the EU Association Agreement with Brussels sparked the fiercest anti-government rallies since the 2004 Orange Revolution that first nudged Ukraine on a westward path.

The Ukrainian government has attempted to organize counter-rallies in Kiev by bussing in thousands of people from eastern regions where Yanukovych enjoys broader support.
But those demonstrations have been dwarfed by the pro-EU protest -- a festive gathering that runs around the clock and features rock concerts on the same square that was at the heart of the 2004 pro-democracy revolt.

Events in recent days suggest Yanukovych is cracking under the pressure and looking for a way out of the deepest political crisis of his nearly four-year rule.
He held an inconclusive meeting with three top protest leaders on Friday and followed that up by sacking senior officials whom he held responsible for a violent crackdown on protesters at the end of last month.

His own ruling Regions Party on Monday also encouraged Yanukovych to conduct a major government overhaul that could possibly take some steam out of the protest movement.

But the Ukrainian leader has firmly rejected the opposition's main demand that Prime Minister Mykola Azarov resign immediately and fresh presidential and parliamentary polls be held.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team