Wednesday, October 23, 2013

European Union to Ukraine: We're Calling Your Bluff on November 18

An EU foreign minister on Tuesday told Ukraine it had less than a month to allow opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko to leave jail and fulfil other conditions, warning that the "time for bluffing" was over.

The release of former prime minister Tymoshenko, who is serving a seven-year sentence for abuse of power while in office, is a key condition Ukraine must fulfil ahead of signing a groundbreaking trade and integration deal with the European Union in late November.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in the Ukrainian capital Kiev that time was "very short" for Ukraine to come up with a solution that would be acceptable to all sides.

Sikorski and Swedish counterpart Carl Bildt met with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych for around two and a half hours on Tuesday.

"For us decision time will be November 18," Sikorski said, referring to a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, the final gathering of the body on the issue before the summit due on November 28-29 in Vilnius.

"Time for bluffing is over on both sides. It's the time for action now."

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