MOSCOW, May 26 (RIA Novosti) – Billionaire Petro Poroshenko, who has claimed victory in Sunday’s presidential race in Ukraine, will try to interest Russia in dialogue, but Kiev’s plans for an EU association deal are unlikely to improve relations with Moscow, Russian lawmaker Vyacheslav Nikonov said Monday.
“As for the level and content of the dialogue, this will depend on Ukraine, as how can we have a substantial high-level dialogue if punitive operations against Russians are being conducted in eastern Ukraine?” asked Nikonov, a State Duma member from the United Russia party and the President of the Politika Fund.
Nikonov said Ukraine’s dialogue with Russia is impossible as Kiev has made no efforts to pay off its debt to Russia, which has kept rising amid the political crisis in the country, reaching $3.5 billion as of the end of April.
Poroshenko’s plans to speed up Ukraine’s association with the EU mean “an automatic deterioration of relations with Russia,” Nikonov said, adding that future Russia-Ukraine relations will not be easy.
With 50.3 percent of ballots counted Monday morning, tycoon Poroshenko was leading the race with 53.9 percent of the vote, Ukraine’s Central Election Commission said. He was followed by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko at 13.1 percent.
Last November, then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych decided to suspend all preparations for the completion of the association agreement with the European Union.
The move triggered pro EU-integration protests that later resulted in violent clashes and a regime change when the country’s parliament, backed by far-right movements, voted to strip Yanukovych of his powers.
On March 21, Kiev’s new authorities signed the political provisions of an EU association agreement. The signing of the economic part has been postponed.
A report by the UNIAN news agency citing EU Ambassador to Ukraine Jan Tombinski said that Brussels plans to sign an agreement on establishing a free trade zone with Kiev shortly after the new president is sworn in.
The inauguration ceremony for the new Ukrainian leader is expected to be held June 8-10.
