Ukraine and the EU

Much has been said and much has been written about the signing of the Association Agreement with Ukraine and the EU in 2013.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has assured everyone that ''Kyiv is working to remove the obstacles to the signing of the EU-Ukraine Agreement.'' Plus ''The signing of the Association Agreement and Free Trade Area agreement remains our priority and objective until November 2013.''

(It is expected that the agreement will be signed at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius this November)

The question must be asked, ''who is conning who here?''

Various EU representatives have made it perfectly clear that no agreements will be signed while Yulia Tymoshenko and Yuri Lutsenko remain in prison on what are seen as politically motivated prison sentences.

Maybe Yanukovych really thinks that EU countries will agree to turn a blind eye and ignore what has happened since 2010. Maybe he truly believes this. Maybe he thinks that the EU are so desperate to bring Ukraine under their wing they will stop at nothing to achieve their goal.

The year 2013 will prove to be another interesting year in Ukraine.