A planned deal between Ukraine and the European Union was hanging in the balance Tuesday after President Viktor Yanukovych made a mysterious trip to Moscow and the authorities opened a probe against the lawyer of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.
ymoshenko, whose release is key to the EU agreeing to sign the deal with Ukraine, accused Yanukovych of "kicking to death" Kiev's EU aspirations ahead of a crucial parliament meeting Wednesday.
Just weeks ago, the chances seemed high of Ukraine signing an Association Agreement with the European Union at a summit in Vilnius at the end of November and making a historic break with Russia.
But over the last days the deal has been plunged into uncertainty by confusion over Ukraine's readiness to release Tymoshenko in some form.
The latest twist was the announcement by prosecutors that they suspected Tymoshenko's lawyer Sergiy Vlasenko of beating his ex-wife Nataliya Okunskaya when they were still married in 2010.
link.
If the prosecutors are really concerned about this, and its quite possible the beatings are real (the lines for good/bad guy are blurred in the xUSSR), they ought to wait until after the decision over Tymoshenko and the EU are finished.
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