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EU leaders must fulfill their promises and support Kyiv on the way to Europe, thus showing that they will not allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to redraw European borders, former Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said in an interview with Ukrainian news magazine Novoe Vremya published on Thursday.
In connection with the opening of the Eastern Partnership summit, the diplomat described why this program was launched in 2009 at the initiative of Poland and Sweden.
"It was assumed that the Eastern Partnership woulf balance the ‘First of all –Russia’ approach, which at that time was being abused by the European Union," he said.
"Enormous resources were poured into relations with Russia, while the common neighbors of Russia and the EU, including the most important of them – Ukraine, got nothing," Bildt said.
"Ukraine was ruled horribly for decades, so it will have to go through radical reforms before it can benefit from the association and integration with the European Union," he said.
"The meeting in Riga is unlikely to lead to new initiatives. But they are not needed. Just staying on the chosen course is a strong signal of success. And in the interests of long-term stability, even nationalist Putin's Russia should welcome this," Bildt added.