Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko expressed guarded support for a European Union bid to improve ties with his country and five others in eastern Europe, in an interview with European media published Monday.
"It is not a bad initiative. It is very good that the E.U. is developing its own strategy for contact with Eastern European countries," he told European media, including Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin.
"That's why Ukraine is not opposed to this initiative," he added.
The E.U. is launching its Eastern Partnership in Prague Thursday, aiming to help spread development, democracy and stability to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
The initiative is an enhanced version of an existing E.U. campaign to help the eastern European states introduce economic and political reforms.
But it doesn't offer the prospect of E.U. membership something Ukraine, in particular, is hoping for.
"The Eastern Partnership is not an alternative to everything," Yushchenko said, adding that Ukraine's accession to the E.U. would offer "as many advantages to the E.U. as it would to Ukraine."
Yushchenko also criticized the E.U.'s response to the gas dispute between Moscow and Kiev that led to Russia cutting off supplies via Ukraine in January, Der Tagesspiegel reported.
"The E.U. did not have the courage to put forward a stronger response to this crisis," he said.