On October 28, Ukrainians will go to the polls for parliamentary elections. Just about everyone in the country believes that the result will be a victory for the ruling Party of Regions (PR), which, at first glance, would seem to reinforce the legitimacy of the increasingly authoritarian president, Viktor Yanukovych.

Diplomats recently initialed a landmark agreement intended to draw Ukraine closer to the European Union, but the continued imprisonment of two major opposition leaders is pushing Ukraine further from its European aspirations.

Yuriy Lutsenko, former Interior Minister in two governments led by Yulia Tymoshenko, was sentenced this week to four years imprisonment and given a three years ban from public office.

From Interfax-Ukraine:  Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych is to meet with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at NATO's Chicago summit in May 2012

From Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:  Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has sacked Defense Minister Mykhailo Yezhel, replacing him with Dmytro Salamatin.

A resolution adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on January 26 called for the release of political prisoners in Ukraine, including former prime minister and opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko with “the possible consideration of sanctions if the Assembly's demands are not met.”

The recently concluded Ukraine-EU summit was neither a grand failure nor a resounding success.

Adrian Karatnycky and Alexander J. Motyl both believe that the EU should go ahead and move forward with the Association Agreement. They believe it would be imprudent to isolate Ukraine and to push it into the Russian-dominated CIS Customs Union.