The European Union won assurances from Ukraine on Friday on security of energy supplies over the winter and pledged to start talks early next year on closer ties with the former Soviet republic, Reuters reported. Ukraine assured its western neighbours of steady natural gas flows through the winter at a summit in Helsinki where the two sides agreed to make its easier for Ukrainians to obtain EU visas, EU leaders said. EU nations were alarmed last winter by a brief cut in supplies of natural gas, sparked by a pricing row between Ukraine and Russia, Europe's biggest supplier. "We discussed the security of gas supplies to Ukraine as well as transit to the European Union for this winter. We were given assurance on this by President (Viktor) Yushchenko," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said after the talks with the Ukrainian leader. Barroso welcomed energy agreements between Ukraine and Russia this month, saying the situation looked to be improving. "We don't anticipate any problems, at least for this year." EU leaders said they hoped Ukraine would win rapid membership of the World Trade Organisation. That would allow it to start talks early next year on an enhanced pact with the EU to replace a partnership and cooperation agreement that expires at the end of 2007. Yushchenko said he would urge lawmakers to approve laws over the next few weeks to allow the country to join the WTO as soon as possible.
