The EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has revealed that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych intends to sign a deal for association with the EU after all.

Ashton was positive that Yanukovych had assured her he intends to sign the deal, when the two met in Kiev earlier this week, the BBC reports.

However, she did not specify when this could happen.

Ashton was in the Ukrainian capital on Tuesday, in an attempt to mediate the political crisis in the country. She urged the authorities to refrain from using force against peaceful demonstrators, in order not to exacerbate the situation.

Riots broke out in Kiev at the end of November, after the government refused to sign an EU Association Agreement, bidding closer ties to Moscow instead.

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