Strasbourg, 13/01/2005 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday the Conference of president of the EP agreed to the proposal by president of the EPP-ED, Hans-Gert Pöttering, to invite as soon as possible, the president-elect of the Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko to the parliament. Pöttering said that they wanted to demonstrate their sustainable support for democracy and reform in Ukraine.
On a visit to Washington, the Russian minister of defence, Serguei Ivanov, declared on Wednesday that "Ukraine would still geographically be in the same place". This allusion was due to the fact that the country would not be able to escape Russia's influence. This declaration was in response to that of the Ukrainian minister of foreign affairs, who said a closer rapprochement between NATO and Ukraine was a priority (EUROPE 13 January p 7).