Ahto Lobjakas, RFE/RL BRUSSELS -- Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's talks with EU leaders in Brussels today steered clear of political controversy, focusing on the dual Ukrainian ambitions of free trade and visa-free travel with the bloc.
Both issues will be highlights of the EU-Ukraine summit in Brussels on November 22.
The top EU officials Yanukovych met today were president of the European Council, Herman van Rompuy, and Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission.
Yanukovych -- who was seen as Russia's preferred candidate in the elections he won on February 10 -- said after meeting van Rompuy that he now wants "gradual" integration with the EU.
"We would like to have a free-trade agreement which would allow for a gradual integration of the Ukrainian economy into the European Union," Yanukovych said. "And we have agreed that that road should be one of compromises and mutual concessions."
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