DHAKA: Ukraine’s president Viktor Yanukovych intends to sign a deal on closer EU ties after all.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has told reporters, according to the BBC.

She was speaking in Brussels after meeting pro-EU protesters who have paralysed the centre of Kiev.

The demonstrators are objecting to the president’s decision not to sign the EU association agreement late last month.

Baroness Ashton said Yanukovych had assured her when they met that his aim was to sign the agreement.

She did not give an indication of when she expected this to happen.

She said his concern during their talks was the ‘short term economic issues’ that Ukraine faced.

The Ukrainian government’s handling of the pro-EU protests in Independence Square in Kiev has met with a stern response from both the European Union and the US.

BDST: 1542 HRS, DEC 12, 2013
Edited by: Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor