Ukraine opposition digs in as Yanukovych faces EU, Russia choice

Ukraine protesters reinforced their positions in Kiev on Friday as they prepared for another mass rally to pressure the president to turn the country away from historical master Moscow toward the EU.

Experts say time is running out for President Viktor Yanukovych to make a decision on a future direction for his politically volatile nation, which is split between a Ukrainian-speaking, pro-EU west and a Russian-speaking, Moscow-leaning east.

He can either sign a deal with the European Union that would put his ex-Soviet nation on track to eventually joining the bloc, or join a Moscow-led Customs Union, which Russia sees as a future alternative to the EU.

Analysts say either choice would further divide Ukraine and jeopardise Yanukovych’s chances for re-election in 2015.

Yanukovych’s decision to scrap the EU pact last month after pressure from Moscow plunged the country into its most acute political crisis in a decade, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets in Kiev and western Ukraine for the past three weeks.

The embattled 63-year-old president appears to be biding his time, sending a senior delegation to Brussels on Thursday while at the same time preparing for yet another meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.