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NATO plans Ukraine visit as Russia threatens trade embargo

07 September 2015 21:25 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Ukraine sought political support from NATO on Monday as talks with Russia in Brussels failed to bridge differences over a trade deal at the heart of east-west tensions and Kiev said Moscow was threatening a trade embargo against it, APA reports quoting Reuters.

In a day of meetings with EU and NATO officials, Ukraine's foreign minister said the secretary general of the U.S-led NATO alliance would make his first visit to Ukraine this month, dismissing concerns it could worsen tensions with Moscow.

Pavlo Klimkin, who called Jens Stoltenberg's visit symbolic as his ex-Soviet nation seeks to integrate with the West, also held talks with the EU's trade chief and Russia's Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev, but to little avail.

Ulyukayev said chances were slim of persuading Moscow that a free-trade deal between Ukraine and the European Union, which is due to come into force in January, would not be detrimental to the Russian economy.

Asked whether a deal to satisfy Moscow's objections to the deal could be reached before Russia imposed an embargo, Ulyukayev said work was progressing with difficulty.

"But we believe our combined efforts can succeed in achieving the result we want. There is a chance of that, although I wouldn't say it's very great."

The deal is at the heart of tensions that have grown from a tug-of-war over influence in Kiev to sanctions, the annexation of Crimea by Russia, armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, and concern among some in the West about a new Cold War.