KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine on Friday signed a trade deal to bind itself to the European Union, a monumental step that came in defiance of months of Russian efforts to block the country from turning westward.
The agreement will have “serious consequences” for Ukraine’s relationship with Russia, a top Russian diplomat said after the signing ceremony in Brussels.
The decision was also expected to complicate efforts to end more than two months of separatist violence in eastern Ukraine. Early Saturday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko extended a week-long cease-fire in the region for three more days.
It was the same document that was rejected in November by Ukraine’s then-president, Viktor Yanukovych. That decision sparked months of protests by pro-Western Ukrainians, a crackdown by Yanukovych and his eventual ouster in February, leading to the greatest tensions between the West and Russia since the Cold War.
More than 100 protesters died in Kiev under the blue and yellow banner of the European Union, as they took to the streets to demand that Yanukovych reconsider his last-minute decision — made under Russian pressure — to reject the agreement.
Hundreds more Ukrainians and dozens of Russians have died in violence in eastern Ukraine since April, when pro-Russian separatists seized government buildings and territory in an effort to align themselves with Russia rather than the European Union.
Friday is “maybe the most important day for my country after independence day,” Poroshenko said as he signed the deal in Brussels, using the pen he said Yanukovych would have used in November. “All of us would have wished to sign the agreement under different, more comfortable circumstances. On the other hand, the external aggression faced by Ukraine is another strong reason for this crucial step.”
“Over the last months, Ukraine paid the highest possible price to make her European dreams come true,” Poroshenko said. “It must be worth something.”
He called for EU leaders to offer assurances that Ukraine could one day become a full member and said Ukraine was committed to joining the union.
Two other former Soviet republics, Georgia and Moldova, also signed the telephone-book-thick trade deals with the EU on Friday, in the face of Russian threats of tough consequences if they did so.
The agreements will require them to enact economic reforms, as well as to meet EU standards for government contracting, cutting down on the corruption that has plagued all three societies since their independence.
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What the deal means
The agreements signed Friday let businesses in Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia trade freely in any of the EU’s 28 nations without tariffs or restrictions as long as their goods and practices meet EU standards. Likewise, goods and services from the EU will be sold more easily and cheaply in the three countries. European Commission experts estimate the deal will boost Ukraine’s national income by $1.6 billion a year. The deal also demands that Ukraine adopt EU rules on government contracts, competition and copyrights — steps that could reduce corruption.
