European Union foreign ministers have sought to reassure their Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, that a possible partnership deal with Ukraine would not undermine Moscow's interests.
At talks with Lavrov over lunch in Brussels, "we made it perfectly clear that Ukraine, after years of negotiations... should sign" a landmark political and economic deal with the 28-nation bloc, said the EU's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton.
The bloc's ministers also made clear "that signing it would not have a detrimental effect on Russia in any way," she added at the close of a day of talks dominated by Kiev's surprise decision late November to ditch the deal days before its planned signature.
There were "no contradictions between possibly accepting this partnership agreement and entertaining good relations with Russia," said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
EU diplomats described the talks between the Russian minister and his EU counterparts as "very open and frank" - diplomatic language for a blunt discussion.
Lavrov himself emerged from the talks saying there was "a common agreement that everyone should respect the sovereignty of each nation" and "allow people to make a free choice".
The Russian minister had argued that an EU-Ukraine free trade deal would undermine the Russian economy by enabling a massive flow of EU products via Ukraine, said Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn.
Turning east rather than west, Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych travels to Moscow on Tuesday.
His decision last month to scrap the historic EU accord sparked the largest demonstrations in his ex-Soviet country in a decade.
The EU ministers reiterated the bloc's willingness to strike the deal with Ukraine, while saying the ball clearly was in Kiev's court.
