EU's Fuele to Return to Ukraine Next Week

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said Wednesday he will return to the Ukrainian capital next week to continue efforts to help defuse the country's crisis.

"The European Union stands ready to assist all sides," Fuele told the European Parliament, adding that he and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton "are working as a team on Ukraine".

"She is there today trying to stop the crisis from escalating and I will be returning there next week again."

Fuele warned that "what is at stake now is not only the respect of the most basic fundamental rights, but also the future of Ukraine."

He called for quick discussion on the constitution under a new government and said the EU could assist revisions with expertise and advice.

It was crucial to ensure free and fair elections in 2015, he said.

"In case of a positive scenario", the EU would be ready to extend assistance, based on a genuine commitment to political and economic reforms, in cooperation with the IMF and other global actors, he said.

In Kiev, Ashton said after meeting President Viktor Yanukovych that "a lot more work" still needed to be done to resolve the crisis, sparked by the Ukrainian leader's last-minute refusal to sign an EU association accord in November.