European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has called off his visit to Ukraine. Accompanied by EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini, Juncker was supposedto fly to Kiev today in hisfirst bilateral trip since taking office in November.
President Petro Poroshenko's office said Juncker told Poroshenko he was postponing his visit "due to unforeseen health conditions.”
Juncker and Mogherini had been expected to express support for Ukraine's pro-Western government, which is struggling with a Russian-backed rebellion in the east and severe economic troubles.
However, his visit to Kiev today could well have been canceled for political pressure, following reaction from some members states.
The Ukrainian media had presented his trip to Kiev in an almost martial light. Juncker was expected tolead a cabinet meeting with President Petro Poroshenko forthe day. He contributed to them with remarks such as:"I am going next Monday to Kiev, where the president of the Ukrainian republic is doing me the honour of being co-chair of the cabinet," Juncker told lawmakers in the European Parliament.
EU leaders will now hold a summit with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko next month in Kiev,on April 27.
Juncker will then be accompanied by EU Council President Donald Tusk will attend, as well as EU heads of state and government who wish to go.
The summit will be a chance for Poroshenko, who attended an EU summit in Brussels in February, to brief leaders on whether the Ukraine ceasefire deal is fully working and to shape the EU's decision on whether to extend or lift sanctions onRussia.
EU leaders agreed last week that economic sanctions imposed on Russia will stay in place until a Ukraine peace deal is fully implemented, effectively extending them to the end of the year if need be.
But they will still have to take a formal decision later on whether to extend economic sanctions on Russia expiring in July.
Russia has always denied assertions by Ukraine, backed by the United States and the European Union, that it has been sending arms and troops across the border to support the pro-Moscow separatists.
Stung by U.S. and EU sanctions against its finance, oil and defense sectors, Russia has hit back by banning most Western food imports. The trade war is hurting both the Russian and European economies.
http://www.neurope.eu/article/juncker-cancels-his-visit-kiev