阿什頓：烏克蘭“打算簽署”歐盟協議
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton says Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovic "intends to sign" a trade and cooperation agreement with the EU that he rejected last month, setting off massive anti-government protests.
Ashton spoke to reporters in Brussels Thursday, after holding talks with Mr. Yanukovich in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. She said it is clear that the short-term economic and financial issues Ukraine faces can be alleviated by signing the association agreement, bringing in fresh investment from EU nations.
"Look, Yanukovych made it clear to me that he intends to sign the association agreement. What he talked about were the short-term economic issues that the country faces. And it is my view that those challenges, which are real, can be addressed by the support that not only comes from the European Union institutions, but actually by showing that he has a serious economic plan in signing the association agreement also will help to bring in the kind of investment that he needs."
Meanwhile, anti-government protests continue, with demonstrators calling for closer ties with the European Union.
After riot police converged on thousands of protesters in Kyiv's Independence Square Wednesday, the United States denounced the police actions and said it is considering its response, including possible sanctions.
Opposition leaders in Kyiv have rejected a call by President Yanukovych for talks aimed at ending the protests against his recent move to step back from the EU trade deal, in favor of boosting ties with Russia.歐洲聯盟外交政策主管阿什頓說，烏克蘭總統亞努科維奇“打算簽署”跟歐盟的貿易與合作協議。上個月，亞努科維奇拒絕簽約，引發大規模反政府抗議。
阿什頓在烏克蘭首都基輔與亞努科維奇會談之後，星期四在布魯薩爾對新聞媒體說，烏克蘭所面臨的短期經濟與金融問題，顯然可以通過簽署歐盟聯繫國協議來加以緩解，因爲協議將引來歐盟國家的新投資。
她說：“亞努科維奇明確向我表示，他打算簽署聯繫國協議。他談到了烏克蘭面臨的短期經濟問題。在我看來，這些挑戰雖然都是切實存在的，但可以得到幫助來解決這些問題，這種幫助不僅僅來自歐盟機構。通過簽署聯繫國協議，他將顯示他有認真的經濟方案，這也將幫助吸引他所需要的投資。”
與此同時，反政府抗議仍在持續。示威者要求和歐盟加強聯繫。
星期三，防暴警察大批集結，逼近基輔獨立廣場上成千上萬的抗議者，隨後美國譴責了警方的行動，並表示正在考慮對此作出迴應，包括可能採取制裁行動。
總統亞努科維奇呼籲展開對話，以結束抗議，但基輔的反對派領袖拒絕了他的要求。亞努科維奇最近拒絕與歐盟簽約，轉而決定加強與俄羅斯的關係，此舉引發了抗議浪潮。
