The Ukrainian
Government announced on 21 November 2013 that there would be no initialing of the
EU-Ukraine Association Agreement (AA) with a DCFTA chapter at the EU Summit in
Vilnius (to be held on 28-29 November 2013). Just a day before, the Ukrainian
Parliament did not pass the bill which would have allowed Ms. Timoshenko to go
abroad for medical treatment. This was the EU’s condition for initialing the Association
Agreement.
Many
commentators believe however that the real reasons are different: gas prices, close
connections with the Russian market (including an FTA with Russia) which would
become more complicated in case of an agreement with the EU, etc.
Such a step back
just one week before the planned initialing is almost more surprising than the
Armenian decision to join the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia
(and not to conclude a DCFTA with the EU) two months ago. The question whether
Ukraine is going to join the Customs Union remains, however, still open.
