Brussels, 13/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - The president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, emphasised on 13 May that it was “still not too late” if Russia wanted to have a “constructive approach” and “commitment” in the Ukrainian crisis. At the end of a meeting between the Commission and the Ukrainian government, he said that “it is in Russia's interest to seize this opportunity and turn the page on what has happened and reach a genuine phase of de-escalation”. The Ukrainian prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk's reply was that “Russia has already made a commitment to terrorists” and warned that “Russia will not succeed in making Ukraine a failed state”.
In a joint declaration, Europeans and Ukrainians have called for “free and fair” presidential elections on 25 May. Yatsenyuk stated that “we think that it is possible to improve the situation and stabilise it”. He added that “there will still be some hotspots and difficult areas but the electoral committee will do all in its power to ensure that all Ukrainians can express themselves”. Asked about the OSCE's roadmap, the prime minister stressed that a national Ukrainian dialogue had begun two months ago and that “it is good that the plan that our government presented has a lot of similarities with the one proposed by the acting president of the OSCE, but we need a process led by Ukraine and under its responsibility”. Europeans and Ukrainians have given their “full support” to OSCE efforts and those of its president to help towards the de-escalation.
The Commission and Ukrainian government have signed a state reconstruction programme worth €355 million, accompanied by €10 million for civil society and the memorandum of understanding for the €1 billion of macro-financial assistance. (CG)