Ukraine Pivots to Russia With Last-Minute Freeze of EU Plan

Ukraine opted to seek stronger ties with Russia, cutting off preparations for a European Union trade agreement a week before its scheduled signing would have capped almost six years of negotiations.

President Viktor Yanukovych’s government will focus on reviving trade with Russia and other former Soviet republics, it said yesterday. The decision is probably final, said Linas Linkevicius, the foreign minister of Lithuania, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency. Postponing the signature of the agreement “is not realistic,” he said by phone.