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Ukraine's Yanukovych 'yet to decide on first foreign trip'

© RIA Novosti . Alexey Kudenko / Go to the mediabankUkraine's Yanukovych 'yet to decide on first foreign trip'
Ukraine's Yanukovych 'yet to decide on first foreign trip' - Sputnik International
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Ukrainian president-elect Viktor Yanukovych has yet to make up his mind which country he will visit first after taking office on February 25.

KIEV, February 23 (RIA Novosti) - Ukrainian president-elect Viktor Yanukovych has yet to make up his mind which country he will visit first after taking office on February 25, the deputy chairperson of his Party of Regions said on Tuesday.

Earlier today, EU sources were quoted by the Kommersant-Ukraine paper as saying Yanukovych would visit Brussels, the headquarters of the European Union, on March 1.

In his congratulatory message to Yanukovych on February 11, EU President Herman van Rompuy invited the president-elect to Brussels "at the earliest opportunity."

The Kremlin said on Saturday that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had invited Yanukovych to Moscow during the first ten days of next month.

"We'll have to wait and see what the president says will be more useful and important for the country," Anna German was quoted as saying by the Unian news agency.

The destination for Yanukovych's first trip abroad as president of the former Soviet republic is likely to be afforded particular symbolic importance given his election campaign pledge to mend ties with Russia.

Relations with Moscow have been soured in recent years by pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko's bid to take Ukraine into NATO, bitter gas disputes, Kiev's support for Georgia during its August 2008 war with Russia over South Ossetia, and other issues.

However, experts say Yanukovych, the Kremlin's choice in the 2004 elections won by Yushchenko, will seek to steer a course between Moscow and Brussels in an attempt to have the best of both worlds.

 

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