The European Union and Ukraine are set to sign the first part of an Association Agreement next week, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed on Wednesday following a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"We both believe that signing the Association Agreement as quickly as possible would be good and useful,” Tusk said at a joint press conference, following talks with Merkel in Warsaw. Tusk underlined that the political chapters of the Association Agreement could be signed with Ukraine at the next meeting of the European Council, scheduled for next week. The German chancellor expressed support for Tusk’s remarks.
The Association Agreement foresees economic integration and closer ties between the EU and Ukraine. The parties initially planned to sign the agreement last November, at an Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. Ousted Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovych’s unexpected decision not to sign the agreement was the catalyst for the nationwide protests which led to his removal.
- Merkel warns Moscow of possible stronger sanctions
Chancellor Merkel also renewed her call on Russia to take steps towards a political solution on the Crimea crisis, warning Moscow that there would be stronger sanctions if no progress was made in talks.
"If there will be no agreement on the International Contact Group, if the talks will not be successful, then sanctions are indispensable,” Merkel said, during the joint press conference with Tusk.
EU foreign ministers are set to meet in Brussels on Monday and are expected to decide on stronger sanctions against Russia, if no progress is made in talks.
The regional parliament in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea voted Tuesday to declare Crimea's independence from Ukraine if the peninsula votes in favor of secession in a March 16 referendum. Nearly 60 percent of Crimea's population are ethnic Russians or Russian-speakers, who are represented by an overwhelming majority in the parliament.
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