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Analysis & Opinions - RIA Novosti

View From the Global Tank: Yanukovych's EU Snub Reflects His Desire to Survive Beyond 2015

| November 30, 2013

Is there anybody left in the Eurasia-watching community in the West that has not condemned Ukraine for suspending preparations for agreements that would have taken closer into the EU’s fold?

Until recently this community had expected Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych to enter history as "the man who has brought Ukraine into Europe" by signing the Association Agreement (AA) and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA)  at the two-day Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius this week. But that was thwarted, as many Western experts have it, by “imperialist” Russia strong-arming Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych into an 11th hour about-face.