UPN, Alm.del - 2013-14 - Bilag 142: Erklæringsteksten vedr. exomøde mellem EU's stats- og regeringschefer den 6. marts 2014 (UK)

We met today with the Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatseniuk who informed us aboutthe situation in his country. We applaud the courage and resilience shown by the Ukrainianpeople these last months and weeks.

We endorse the conclusions adopted by the Council on 3 March. We strongly condemn theunprovoked violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity by the RussianFederation and call on the Russian Federation to immediately withdraw its armed forces tothe areas of their permanent stationing, in accordance with the relevant agreements. We callon the Russian Federation to enable immediate access for international monitors. Thesolution to the crisis in Ukraine must be based on the territorial integrity, sovereignty andindependence of Ukraine, as well as the strict adherence to international standards. Weconsider that the decision by the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea tohold a referendum on the future status of the territory is contrary to the UkrainianConstitution and therefore illegal.

The European Union has important relations with Ukraine and the Russian Federation andstands ready to engage in a frank and open dialogue with them. It has a special responsibilityfor peace, stability and prosperity in Europe. We will pursue these objectives using allavailable channels and ask the EU representatives to take all necessary initiatives. TheEuropean Union will also participate in the multilateral mechanism (contact/coordinationgroup) being prepared to deescalate the situation which should have as its objectives interalia to build confidence between the parties, watch over the territorial integrity andsovereignty of the country, protect all citizens against intimidations, watch over the rights ofminorities, help to prepare free and fair elections, and monitor implementation of agreementsand commitments.

The European Union's and the Russian Federation's common objective of a relationship basedon mutual interest and respect of international obligations needs to be promptly restored. Itwould be a matter of great regret if the Russian Federation failed to work in that direction,and in particular if it continued to refuse to participate in a productive dialogue with theGovernment of Ukraine. We have today decided to take actions, including those envisagedby the Council on 3 March, notably to suspend bilateral talks with the Russian Federation onvisa matters as well as talks with the Russian Federation on the New Agreement. We supportthe decision of the European Members of the G8 and the EU institutions to suspend theirparticipation in G8 Summit preparations until further notice.

The solution to the crisis should be found through negotiations between the Governments ofUkraine and the Russian Federation, including through potential multilateral mechanisms.Such negotiations need to start within the next few days and produce results within a limitedtimeframe. In the absence of such results the European Union will decide on additionalmeasures, such as travel bans, asset freezes and the cancellation of the EU-Russia summit.The Commission and the EEAS will take forward preparatory work on these measures.Any further steps by the Russian Federation to destabilise the situation in Ukraine would leadto additional and far reaching consequences for relations in a broad range of economic areasbetween the European Union and its Member States, on the one hand, and the RussianFederation, on the other hand.

The European Union commends the measured response shown so far by the new Ukrainiangovernment. We encourage the Ukrainian authorities, through an inclusive process, to pursuetheir efforts to ensure free and fair elections, to advance constitutional reform and toinvestigate all acts of violence. Efforts should continue to reach out to all Ukrainian regionsand population groups and to ensure full protection of the rights of people belonging tonational minorities, drawing on the expertise of the Council of Europe and the OSCE.

We stand by Ukraine and commit to provide it with strong financial backing. We welcome thepresentation of the comprehensive assistance package by the Commission and task allrelevant Council bodies to process it rapidly. IMF support will be critical to unlockingassistance from the European Union. The immediate priority is to restore macroeconomicstability through sound fiscal, monetary and exchange rate policies. At the same time, we callon the government to launch urgently an ambitious set of structural reforms, including tofight corruption, enhance transparency. We welcome the Council decision to freeze andrecover assets of persons identified as responsible for the misappropriation of State funds.We are also prepared to respond immediately to humanitarian assistance requests.

The European Union and Ukraine have already taken an important step in deepening ourrelation by the initialling of the Association Agreement, including a Deep andComprehensive Free Trade Area. We reiterate the European Union's commitment to signingthe Association Agreement, including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area. As amatter of priority, we will sign very shortly all the political chapters. The European Unionintends to adopt unilateral measures which would allow Ukraine to benefit substantially fromthe advantages offered in the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area. Such measureswould entail an offer to apply provisions related to the import of goods by reducing tariffsand opening tariff rate quotas by so called autonomous trade measures.

The European Union reiterates its commitment to enhance people to people contacts betweenthe citizens of the European Union and Ukraine, i.a. through the visa liberalisation process,in line with agreed conditions in the framework of the Visa Liberalisation Action Plan.

Energy and energy security are an important part of the Union's external relations. We willcontinue our efforts to ensure security of supply. We also call for the effective and consistentimplementation of the Third Energy Package by all players in the European energy market.The European Union also stands ready to assist Ukraine in securing its energy supplythrough further diversification, enhanced energy efficiency, and effective interconnectionswith the European Union.

The European Union expresses its objective to further strengthen the political association andeconomic integration with Georgia and the Republic of Moldova. We confirm our aim tosign the Association Agreements, including the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas,which we initialled in Vilnius last November, no later than at the end of August 2014.