The European Union could send a mission to Ukraine to help overcome a domestic political stalemate holding back efforts to combat the economic crisis, Germany`s foreign minister said on Monday, Reuters reported.

"Developments there are worrying... We must try such a mission to help find the national consensus needed to overcome the crisis in Ukraine," Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters after talks in Luxembourg with EU counterparts.

He said there was "a broad consensus" among EU states for such a move, which was proposed jointly by Germany and Poland, and that EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana would now make contact with Kiev to discuss the suggestion.

Видео дня

Earlier, the top adviser to President Viktor Yushchenko said Ukraine`s economy would likely shrink by 8-10 percent ths year, rather than the 0.4 percent growth forecast by his government.

The International Monetary Fund initially made a $16.4 billion loan package contingent on a deficit-free budget. But after two weeks of meetings in Kiev to restore the flow of credits suspended in a row over policy, it has said it could accept a deficit of up to 4 percent.

Reuters