European integration is a priority for Ukraine's foreign policy, the country's new president said in Brussels Monday, seeking to reassure Europe by tempering his pro-Russia image.
"For Ukraine, European integration is a key foreign policy priority," President Viktor Yanukovych told a joint press conference with European Union Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso.
Yanukovych arrived in Brussels earlier Monday, markedly making the EU headquarters his first overseas destination since taking power last month.
His predecessor Viktor Yushchenko was a strong proponent for Ukraine joining both the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, prospects which have angered former Soviet overlord Russia.
Yanukovych appeared to retreat from that stance, at least as far as NATO is concerned.
He said he wanted to "maintain" his country's relationship with NATO at the current level, but that any further moves would depend on future negotiations.
He has previously said he sees the former Soviet republic as a "non-aligned European country", effectively putting an end to any ambitions to join NATO.
The Ukrainian leader and his host fixed the objective of sealing an association agreement--for closer trade, political, social ties--within a year.
Discussions on the agreement, which would include the key free-trade deal, are underway but have made little progress so far.
Yanukovych also promised that his country would in future guarantee the safe transit of Russian natural gas to Europe, after problems in recent years.
Barroso said "Ukraine is already a European country" but added that it was more important to help Ukraine make necessary reforms rather than setting any timelines for EU membership.
"Ukraine is a European country...by its civilization, by its culture and its history," said Barroso.
The prospect of inviting the former Soviet republic into the European club divides the EU nations.
Ukraine's EU neighbors and near neighbors, Poland and the Baltic states, are lobbying in favor of Ukraine's adhesion to the EU to help it avoid being dominated by Russia.
Others feel the 27-nation bloc still has work to do to bed in the central and east European nations which have gained membership since the 1990s.
Barroso urged Ukraine to resume co-operation with the International Monetary Fund, a condition for the EU to unblock key funding.
He also held out the prospect of future visa-free travel between Europe and Ukraine saying the EU executive would consider this possibility "in a favorable manner," a prospect, which will concern those EU nations concerned at the prospect of large-scale immigration.