After NATO meeting, Kerry to skip visit to Ukraine in favor of Moldova

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry won't visit the Ukraine, which is distancing itself from the European Union, visiting Moldova instead, a U.S. official said. A State Department official said Kerry's brief visit to Moldova Wednesday is to show U.S. support for countries committed to reform, The New York Times reported. "We wanted to send a very strong signal of support for those countries that have moved forward with the EU because of what it means to their commitment to reform," a senior State Department official said Monday. Ukraine had been expected to sign trade and political agreements with the European Union last month, but President Victor Yanukovych had a change of heart, saying the accords would hurt his country's economy and that he would pursue closer ties with Russia. Pro-EU demonstrators have staged protests since Yanukovych's U-turn, calling for mass resignations of government leaders. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is meeting this week in Kiev. The State Department official said Kerry wanted to visit an Eastern European country that was seeking closer ties to the European Union after Kerry attends a two-day NATO meeting in Brussels. "Had that been the case with Ukraine, it would have been a tougher decision whether to go to the OSCE, but since that didn't happen we're going where the European decisions were made," the State Department official told the Times. "Moldova has come under some pressure from its big neighbor," the official, speaking anonymously, said. "So among the things that we're working on with the EU as we support Moldova moving forward is helping the Moldovan wine industry find new markets. The European Union has already reduced or dropped all of its tariffs on Moldovan wine."