EU trade deal will have ‘consequences’
MOSCOW — Ukraine signed a landmark economic trade pact with the European Union Friday, prompting a furious response from the Kremlin even as talks were extended over a peace plan to stop violence in the country’s east.
Petro Poroshenko, president of Ukraine, signed the accord at a ceremony in Brussels, calling it a “new perspective for my country.” The leaders of Georgia and Moldova also put pens to EU “association agreements” in a historic step for the three former Soviet countries.
It was a refusal to sign the pact last year by Poroshenko’s predecessor, Viktor Yanukovych, which caused popular protests in Ukraine, leading to Russia’s annexation of the Crimea peninsula and an armed pro-Russian uprising against gov- ernment forces around the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk.
A shaky ceasefire in that conflict which was due to expire last night was extended until Monday. EU leaders warned they would consider tougher sanctions against Russia if no progress was made on disarming the rebels, who are promised an amnesty. They also want the insurgents to release about 200 hostages and give up control of several border checkpoints.
Russian anger at the trade deal was evident as a senior adviser to President Vladimir Putin labelled Poroshenko a “Nazi” and called the agreement “illegitimate.” The Kremlin distanced itself from the comments but Grigory Karasin, the deputy foreign minister, said the accord would have “serious consequences.”
Putin called for a long-term ceasefire while claiming the overthrow of Yanukovych had provoked a schism in Ukrainian society, a humanitarian crisis and a “flow of blood.”
Speaking at a ceremony for foreign diplomats in the Kremlin, the Russian president said: “The anticonstitutional coup in Kyiv and the attempts to impose on the Ukrainian people an artificial choice between Europe and Russia pushed society towards a schism, a painful internal confrontation.”
He added: “In the southeast of the country, blood is flowing, there is a real humanitarian catastrophe, tens of thousands of refugees are forced to seek shelter, including in Russia.”
The trade deal came amid tense talks over a peace plan suggested by Poroshenko. He earlier announced a weeklong ceasefire in an attempt to persuade pro-Russia rebels in the east of Ukraine to lay down their arms.