The EU had been set to take a decision this Monday on whether the bloc should sign a trade deal with Ukraine in Lithuania later this month.<br /><br />But an EU monitoring mission plans to give Kiev more time to pass a law that would free opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.<br /><br />“We are working on a key that might get everyone off the hook, which is still there. And whether it happens I do not know, but we earnestly hope it will. And it is important not because it is about one person but because it is about a process and nature of justice,” said Pat Cox, an EU monitor and a former president of the European Parliament.<br /><br />The Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights ruled earlier this year that Tymoshenko’s 2011 jailing was “arbitrary and unlawful”.<br /><br />The EU have repeated described her case as an example of “selective justice”.<br /><br />Some officials say Kiev may miss its chance for closer ties with Brussels altogether.<br /><br />Linas Linkevicius, Lithuania’s Foreign Minister, warned that “time is not on our side”.<br /><br />“We must not lose this moment that we have. Especially since we’re not talking about membership in the EU, we are talking about the stage, and by the way it is a very important stage.”<br /><br />Russia strongly opposes a deal between the EU and Ukraine.<br /><br />Russia’s deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin told euronews on Wednesday that such a move would be a big blow for the country’s economy. <br /><br />Moscow may relocate some factories from the country, he said.<br /><br />On the streets of Vilnius, some say Ukraine would be better off with closer ties with Russia.<br /><br />Ukrainian MPs are expected to meet again on Tuesday to vote on planned reforms that also include changes to election legislation.
