The EU Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius that took place Thursday and Friday last week was marked by frustration with Ukraine's decision to suspend preparations on the Association Agreement and Free Trade Agreement with the European Union.
After the end of the two-day summit, Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak stated that the Ukranian President Yanukovych, “suggested that if things develop well, Ukraine will be ready to sign the Association Agreement at the next summit in Riga in 2015”. At the summit, Ukraine reiterated its initiative for tripartite talks between Ukraine, Russia and the EU. According to Lajcak, the idea wasn't greeted with enthusiasm by the European leaders as he noted that the EU found itself going against its will in a confrontation with the Russian Federation over Eastern partners. “This is a situation in which we didn't want to find ourselves in”, stressed Lajcak. As the Slovak Press Agency TASR reports, Lajcak doesn’t want to downplay the importance of the summit and claims that post-Vilnius, the EU has to undergo a certain self-reflection, “And to say frankly what we did wrong when our offer wasn't seen as attractive”, stressed Lajcak.
