EU Rejects Putin Demand for Ukraine Deal Changes

The European Union said Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had written to Brussels demanding changes to a landmark EU-Ukraine accord, but it ruled out reopening the deal without Kiev's consent.

Putin's letter to European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso reportedly threatened retaliatory measures if the EU and Ukraine do not stick to their agreement with Moscow to delay the implementation of the deal until 2016.

The Ukrainian and European parliaments last week both ratified the association agreement, the rejection of which by then-president Viktor Yanukovych last year triggered the political crisis in the former Soviet state.

European Commission spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen confirmed that Barroso had received a letter from Putin about the deal and said Brussels "will of course decide on the best way to respond."

But she pointed out that the controversial pact was a "bilateral agreement" between Kiev and Brussels.

"If there are any changes they have to be agreed between the EU and Ukraine," Hansen told a press briefing.

"We are not seeking any changes to the agreement, Ukraine is free and sovereign to make choices in its interests."

The Association Accord, which includes a wide-ranging Free Trade Agreement, is at the heart of the bitter stand-off between the EU and Russia over the future of its Soviet-era satellite.

Moscow has repeatedly charged that the tie-up damages its legitimate interests and its economy.

During trilateral talks between the EU, Ukraine and Russia on September 12, the EU announced unexpectedly that it had agreed to delay implementation of parts of the FTA to the end of 2015.

The EU said it was a step to help bolster a ceasefire negotiated by Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on September 5.

The trilateral talks, it insisted, were only about how to implement the accord and not about the content.

Moscow has since tried to widen the talks to include amendments to the Association Accord itself, EU sources said.

Putin's letter "casts a much wider net" than any concerns raised during talks on the September 12 agreement, an EU source said.

The letter talks not only about specific trade issues but also about "systemic problems" with the Association Agreement, the source said.

The clear impression is that Putin is seeking new concessions, the source said, adding: "The EU cannot accept that Russia decide for Ukraine."

The Financial Times reported Friday that Putin had threatened "immediate and appropriate retaliatory measures” if Kiev tried to implement any part of the deal.

Last week, in a letter seen by AFP from Russian Economy Minister Alexey Ulyukaev to EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, Russia said further talks on the pact should "clearly fix a mandate" for "the proposal for amendments to the Association Agreement".