UKRAINE: EU TROIKA MEETING LAUNCHES ENHANCED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KYIV 000332 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/07/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM UP SUBJECT: UKRAINE: EU TROIKA MEETING LAUNCHES ENHANCED AGREEMENT Classified By: Ambassador for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) ¶1. (C) Summary: A February 6 EU Troika meeting in Kyiv marked the launch of a new enhanced Partnership and Cooperative Agreement intended to strengthen economic and political ties - responding to a Ukrainian push for a new kind of partnership and closer ties to the EU. The first meeting of a Working Group to hammer out the agreement, to be led on the Ukrainian side by DFM Andriy Veselovskiy, was set for March ¶6. A key feature of the new agreement will be a free trade zone and it is also expected to cover energy, economy, security, but not EU membership. However, EU officials publicly and privately indicated that they are not ready to initiate substantive talks and the economic portion of the agreement would be tied to Ukraine first joining the WTO. Local foreign policy experts were satisfied with the results of the talks, but raised some concerns about the details of the new agreement and the absence of EU foreign policy chief Solana from the meeting. ¶2. (C) Comment: The success of the meeting, and the positive statements from both PM Yanukovych and President Yushchenko, demonstrated that in spite of their disagreements, the Ukrainian Government continues to have a unified approach on the importance of moving ahead on European integration and forging closer ties with the EU. Speaking after the meeting during a visit to Germany, Yushchenko predicted Ukrainian membership in the EU in ten years. This is a positive step toward our main foreign policy goal for Ukraine: integrate Ukraine into Europe. End Comment and Summary. Making the rounds in Kyiv -------------- ¶3. (C) The EU Troika delegation, led by German Foreign Minister Steinmeier, met with President Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yanukovych, and acting Foreign Minister Ohryzko. Notably absent from the meeting was EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana, who canceled at the last minute citing pressing concerns over Kosovo. However, the Germany Embassy here cautioned us from reading too much into Solana's reluctance to make the trip to Kyiv, even though he was in Moscow just before the Troika meeting, because he is scheduled to return here to receive an award in mid-March. Also absent was Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy, due to medical reasons. ¶4. (C) According to our Germany Embassy colleagues, FM Steinmeier insisted that the meeting go ahead with or without Solana and Ferrero-Waldner. In Steinmeier's view, it was important to hold the meeting here in Kyiv to announce the opening of discussions on an enhanced relationship, rather than allowing the announcement to be made as one of many in some kind of protocol issued in Brussels. The visit also took place in spite of reported fussing in Brussels over the lack of a confirmed Foreign Minister and a last-minute attempt by departing FM Tarasyuk to postpone the meeting. According to the Germans Embassy here, Yushchenko was furious when he heard that Tarasyuk, in the person of DFM Veselovskiy, contacted the Germans at the 11th hour to postpone the meeting. Within hours, Presidential Secretariat Deputy Head Oleksandr Chaliy was on the phone with the German Ambassador overturning the MFA instruction to postpone. What Will Ukraine Get from the Agreement? -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Press statements issued after the visit described the talks in positive terms, with Steinmeier calling it a "good day for relations between the EU and Ukraine". The two sides were optimistic that the new agreement would strengthen economic ties through the free trade area and lead to increased cooperation in judicial, foreign and security policy areas. However, the current EU position is that a new agreement should not include explicit prospects for EU membership. A meeting of technical experts is scheduled for March 6 in Kyiv, to be led by DFM Veselovskiy. ¶6. (C) Luis Manuel Portero Sanchez, Head of the European Commission Delegation's Trade and Economic Section, told Econoff February 7 that the troika meeting met the Commission's expectations. He noted that there had been political pressure behind the push to formally announce a start to negotiations on a new agreement, however, and that substantive discussions could in fact not take place immediately. He reiterated that virtually all economic elements of the enhanced agreement, especially an EU-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (FTA),would be dependent on Ukraine first joining the WTO. KYIV 00000332 002 OF 002 ¶7. (C) Think tanker Oleksander Sushko told PolOff that the troika meeting met his expectations. Leading foreign policy expert, Oleksiy Haran, also viewed the outcome with measured approval, but did note some concerns - namely the eventual shape of the new agreement, which does not include prospects for eventual EU membership. He said that while the EU may be frustrated with the current turmoil in internal Ukrainian politics, membership talks could be held without tying it to the current situation because Ukraine's prospects for EU membership are projected far into the future. All Politics are Local... -------------- ¶8. (C) Haran also brought up the absence of Solana, worrying that this could be perceived as a slight from the EU and be used by some politicians to push for a less pro-European foreign policy. Haran raised another sticking point. He thought that some members of the majority coalition in the Rada have argued that the meeting did not go well, and Acting FM Ohryzko, President Yushchenko's nominee for the post, did not plan the meeting well. Haran surmised that they could use this as an excuse not to vote for him to be the next Foreign Minister. ¶9. (U) Visit Embassy Kyiv's classified website: www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev. Taylor