EU offers Ukraine help with implementing association deal

(BRUSSELS) - The EU said Thursday it would help Ukraine implement the association pact they have negotiated, and offered to assist it to obtain an IMF loan.

Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Commissioner Stefan Fuele said after meeting with Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Arbuzov that once there was a firm commitment from Ukraine to sign the pact that the EU would help prepare a "roadmap" for its implementation.

This would include talks to "examine in depth all issues related to the implementation of the agreement," said Fuele.

In addition, the EU could "facilitate and continue supporting Ukraine and its endeavour ... to sign an agreement with the IMF," he added.

The refusal last month by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to sign an integration pact with the EU amid pressure from Russia to join its new trade zone has sparked three weeks of protests.

But with demonstrators occupying the centre of the capital Kiev, Yanukovych has wavered.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Thursday after her talks with Yanukovych that the president said he would sign the EU association pact.

With Ukraine's economy struggling, Ukraine's Prime Minister Mykola Azarov on Wednesday said Kiev would like to secure a 20-billion-euro ($27.5-billion) loan from the European Union before it signs the pact.

Brussels immediately dismissed the idea of such a loan, saying the EU would not get involved in a bidding war for Ukraine's future.

However Kiev has serious concerns about possible trade retaliation from Russia, including cutting off gas supplies to Ukraine and barring Ukrainian goods.

Arbuzov said "Ukraine is still in the same course towards" European integration.

"Ukraine will soon sign the agreement taking into account its strategic interests," he said.