FM: Ukraine not to waive European integration

Ukraine would not abandon its course towards closer ties with the European Union (EU) and the country was postponing, not canceling, a landmark deal with the 28-member bloc, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara said on Monday. "Ukraine does not waive the association agreement. We are talking about suspension of the document signing, as the two sides -- Ukraine and the EU, are not ready to do it now," Kozhara told a news briefing here. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych will attend the Eastern Partnership Summit slated for Nov. 28-29 in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, where Kiev initially had planned to sign with the EU an unprecedented association agreement and a comprehensive free trade agreement, Kozhara said. The Ukrainian government said last week it had suspended preparations for the signing of the association agreement, seen as a first step toward EU membership, and would form a tripartite trade commission with Russia and the EU. The scrapped plan triggered protests in central Kiev and some other big Ukrainian cities during the weekend.