Leaders of the European Union and Ukraine agreed on Tuesday to deepen ties, but the 27-nation EU stopped short of offering Kiev a firm membership pledge. "We are convinced that in 2009 we will sign a very symbolic document cementing relations between Ukraine and the EU," Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko told a news conference after meeting French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris.
Sarkozy told the same news conference that a declaration agreed with Yushchenko acknowledged Ukraine's EU aspirations and status as a European country, while promising to launch talks on visa-free arrangements for Ukrainian citizens.
The two leaders said they had agreed that a broad bilateral pact under negotiation would be called an "association agreement" - wording that can imply the possibility of future membership but does not make it automatic.