Incoming Ukrainian President Poroshenko Requests Time on EU Deal

Ukraine president-elect Petro Poroshenko. European Pressphoto Agency

The winner of Sunday’s presidential election in #Ukraine has told senior European Union leaders he wants some time before committing to a major economic and political deal with the bloc, according to more than a half-dozen officials briefed on conversations.

Officials say they have seen no evidence that incoming Ukrainian president-elect #Petro Poroshenko is wavering on the agreement, and they still expect him to wrap it up over the next couple of months. But they say the billionaire #chocolate maker has sent the message that he will approach the Europeans when he is ready.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Poroshenko said the incoming president will discuss the timing of the signing of the accord after he meets some European leaders late next week in Poland.

The bilateral deal would transform Ukraine’s ties with the EU and has been at the center of the country’s political crisis for most of the past year. But Russian President Vladimir Putin bitterly opposes the accords, and Moscow has threatened economic retaliation against the former Soviet countries that sign deals with the EU.

Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to abandon the agreement in November sparked protests that eventually toppled his government in February. --WSJ