EU promises more aid for Ukraine if it signs trade, co-operation deal

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- A key EU negotiator has told Ukrainian officials the bloc is ready to provide more financial aid to their country, if it agrees to sign a trade and co-operation agreement with the European Union.

EU Commissioner Stefan Fuele made the announcement in Brussels on Thursday after a day of negotiations with top Ukrainian officials there.

They met as demonstrations continued in Kyiv, Ukraine, against President Viktor Yanukovych's decision last month to shelve the long-anticipated agreement with the EU.

Fuele said the EU has "made a clear commitment to match in our financial support the level of ambitions of our Ukrainian partners."

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  Pro-European Union activists wave Ukrainian national flags during a rally in Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013. Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych appears to be in a tough corner. (AP / Alexander Zemlianichenko)

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  Pro-European Union activists warm themselves near a bonfire and guard barricades on the main street Khreschatyk in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013. (AP / Efrem Lukatsky)

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  Pro-European Union activists activists are trained to resist police inside their tent camp in the Independence Square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2013. (AP / Sergei Grits)