European leaders yesterday balked at making any firm pledges to Ukraine on eventually joining the European Union, wary of antagonising a belligerent Russia in the midst of the Georgia crisis.
A long-scheduled EU-Ukraine summit in Paris gained in urgency because of Russia's Georgia campaign and fears that Ukraine could become the new frontline between Russia and the West.
The summit, hosted by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France a few hours after he returned from shuttle diplomacy between Moscow and Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, agreed to work towards a new EU-Ukraine accord next year that could make it easier for Ukrainians to travel to the rest of Europe. But Kiev's hopes of firmer pledges of integration from Europe as a hedge against Russian pressure were dashed.
"This is the maximum that we could do," said Sarkozy.
Ukraine's president, Viktor Yushchenko, who is also in the midst of a power struggle with his prime minister, Yuliya Tymoshenko, said: "We are convinced that in 2009 we will sign a very symbolic document cementing relations between Ukraine and the EU."
The government in Kiev collapsed last week amid disputes over who should run Ukraine, over Georgia, and Kiev's relations with Moscow, with Yushchenko accusing Tymoshenko of failing to take a stand on Georgia because she is seeking the Kremlin's help in a campaign to unseat him.
The political instability bolstered opponents within the EU of stronger links between Kiev and Brussels. Ukraine had pushed for a summit statement declaring that its future lay in the EU, but failed.
