Nieuwe Oekraïnse premier Yanukovych houdt vast aan pro-EU-koers (en)

Ukraine prime minister Viktor Yanukovych has said his country wants closer relations with the EU but is putting membership of NATO on hold for the moment.

During his first - closely watched - trip to EU headquarters on Thursday (14 September) the recently-elected pro-Russia leader said "We have the firm intention to have excellent relations with the EU and a stable relationship which will bring us in the long term to accession into the European Union."

Mr Yanukovych lost power in his country's Orange Revolution in 2004 but returned to government after a strong showing in regional elections earlier this year. As part of a power-sharing deal with president Victor Yushchenko, he got the post on condition that he pursue a pro-western agenda.

A pact signed by the two politicians - formerly archrivals - includes plans for fast membership of the WTO and eventual accession to the EU and NATO - all vigorously pursued by Mr Yuschenko directly after the Orange Revolution.

However, Mr Yanukovych in Brussels indicated that NATO membership was not a priority.

"Joining NATO is a matter of time. Currently, there is still no support for this issue in Ukrainian society," he said after talks at NATO headquarters. "The support has decreased over the past two years."

Polls shows that almost two-thirds of Ukrainians oppose membership of the alliance with the party that won the most votes in March, Mr Yanukovych's Party of the Regions, being elected on an anti-NATO ticket.

The previous, pro-Western government had hoped NATO would issue an invitation for Kiev to join at the alliance's upcoming summit in Riga in November, with membership to follow as early as 2008.

EU membership not on the cards

Mr Yanukovych's trip to Brussels was a chance for the European Commission to get a close up political look at the politician whose attempt to rig presidential elections in 2004 sparked the Orange Revolution.

Following a breakfast meeting with external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU made it clear that membership of the bloc is not on the cards but that the two sides can work together.

"The future is not prejudged, but at this moment clearly there is no membership perspective," said the commissioner.

Instead she suggested that the two sides negotiate a new enhanced agreement that would include a free trade pact and which would strengthen cooperation in areas such as energy policy, the environment and human rights issues.

Singling out energy, Mr Yanukovich said it was an area where Brussels and Kiev have common interests.

A Russian-Ukraine dispute over gas at the beginning of the year resulting in supply disruptions in several member states made the EU realise just how dependent it was on Moscow for its energy. Ukraine is the main transit country for energy coming from Russia to the EU.

Earlier on Thursday Mr Yanukovych agreed to let the EU install meters on oil and gas pipelines across his county's borders to help settle any future disputes about supplies.

Asked how he would keep the balance between his pro-Russia stance and a pro-European course Mr Yanukovych said: "We are not going to have policies of opposition between the two, we are going to have policies of uniting interest."