Europe's Continuing Outreach to Ukraine

In the next six months, the competition between the European Union and Russia over Ukraine will intensify, particularly as an EU Eastern Partnership summit regarding Ukraine's integration with the European Union draws near. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said in an interview published May 13 that the European Union has given Ukraine until November — when the Eastern Partnership summit will occur in Vilnius — to meet EU terms for signing an association agreement with the bloc. The European Union's original deadline for Ukraine was May.

Lithuania, along with Poland and Sweden, is one of the main proponents of bringing Ukraine closer to the European Union and drawing it out of Russia's orbit. However, several complications remain. A November summit in Vilnius will be an important gauge of how serious Ukraine is about further integration with the bloc.