Ukraine signs EU economic pact that first ignited crisis (Georgia and Moldova also sign)

The Hill ^ | June 27, 2014 | Mario Trujillo

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Ukraine on Friday finalized a European Union trade agreement, the deal that led to the ouster of former President Viktor Yanukovych and a Russia-fueled national crisis earlier this year.

President Petro Poreshenko, elected in May, called the agreement a huge step forward for the country.

"This is one of the most important days in the time since Ukraine won independence. We use this possibility to modernize the country," he said, according to reports. "But we need only one thing — peace and security."

The deal would allow free trade between the Ukraine and the European Union and would require Ukraine to come inline with the group's product regulations, according to the Associated Press. Georgia and Moldova also signed agreements.

Russia has opposed the deal, with President Vladimir Putin calling it a forced choice, imposed by the West, between greater cooperation with Russia or the EU.

Yanukovych's unwillingness to sign the pact led to an uprising in the country earlier this year that eventually forced him to flee to Russia.

Since then, turmoil has brewed in Ukraine as pro-Russian separatists have taken over a number of government buildings in Eastern Ukraine, which holds a large population of ethnic Russians.

Earlier this year, the United States and European countries imposed a number of sanctions on Russian leaders. Russia annexed Crimea following the region’s voted to secede amid increased Russian troop presence there.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Ukraine Signs Trade Agreement With European Union "BRUSSELS — Seven months after Ukraine’s former president Viktor F. Yanukovych rejected a sweeping trade deal with the European Union and set off protests that drove him from power, Ukraine’s new leader on Friday concluded the pact, which Russia has bitterly opposed as a threat to its own economic and strategic interests in the former Soviet Union.

The news agency Interfax in Moscow quoted Russia’s deputy foreign minister as warning that “serious consequences” would follow the signing of a deal that Moscow has long worked to derail..........."

[KC_Lion]

It's all happening again....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zViwCUtQ5o

[ansel12]

Not really, Russia is nothing compared to NATO.

We just need leadership.