Has the EU definitively lost the game with Russia in the attempt to win alliance with Ukraine? Elmar Brok gives his opinion.

Kiev at a crossroads: which way will Ukraine turn?

Elmar Brok, you returned  from Ukraine and Kiev on Sunday.

How is the situation?  -It's very precarious and dangerous.

It's clear that President Yanukovych  has turned toward Russia

against the will of the majority  of the population.

I don't know how these two positions  can be reconciled with each other.

I hope that Yanukovych will gather  everyone around the negotiation table

while respecting the will of the population  to turn toward the EU.

Hundreds of thousands of people  have been demonstrating all week.

that it took Brussels so long  to come up with a real answer.

That's why several MEPs  from the EPP group went there.

It's also high time  that Ms. Ashton goes there

to try to get the arguing sides  to sit down with each other,

so that a democratic and peaceful  process becomes possible.

Some of your colleagues say  that Russia has simply won the game,

One match has been won,  not the entire season.

I hope that the people  will get their way,

that freedom, economic modernisation  and better living conditions

will prevail over short-sighted decisions

resulting from the unilateral economic  interests of a small group of Ukrainians.

Some of your colleagues  in the Parliament say

that the Ukrainians should be left to decide  for themselves without our interference.

They are old enough to decide  for themselves. What do you think?

The decision has to be taken in Kiev,  not in Brussels or Moscow.

I trust that the Ukrainian people  will make the right decision.

Nobody has the right to influence  the sovereign decision of a people

in the way that the Russians have done  with trade measures, boycotts, etc.

They systematically try to prevent Ukraine  from taking a sovereign decision.

Allegedly, Mr. Yanukovych  wanted a customs agreement.

Do you think that it was only about that?

No. He would have gotten a much better  free trade agreement from us,

but he's afraid of pressure from Russia,  which has already caused a lot of damage.

Putin's current policy  aims to restore the Russian empire.

That's what it's about.  It's not about trade issues or trade zones.

Russia wants to restore  the empire of the tsars.

That's why Moscow is trying  to regain control of its former republics.

In Ukraine, especially Kiev, people were  afraid that the situation would escalate.

How far are you prepared to go  if this really happens?

That's up to the people there  to decide, not me.

They are afraid of ending up again under  some sort of Russian-Soviet pressure.

The Ukrainian people  are afraid of losing their freedom.

It's often been said  that the EU went too far in protecting her,

that this was the task  of the Ukrainian justice system.

All judicial experts  and the European Court of Human Rights

say that the justice system there  is not free.

That's why, regardless of Tymoshenko,  a new judicial system is necessary

under which the Chief Prosecutor  has less power than the judges.

The rule of law is a prerequisite  for the development of a country.

If we dispense with democracy  and the rule of law,

then we no longer  need to talk about our values.

But are you willing to tell the Ukrainians

that EU membership is a real prospect  if they continue to turn toward us?

Ukraine is having trouble to fulfil the  conditions of an association agreement.

Once this has been achieved  we can talk about the next step.

They're still far from  becoming a candidate country.

Their development capacity is insufficient  with respect to political and other issues.

We see things  from a European perspective.

An intermediary option like the one with  Norway could be a solution,

Norway has access to the Single Market  and is part of the Schengen area.

The way to the EU  has to be taken step by step.

It depends on each country's capacity and  impetus, and on the capacity of the EU.

Elmar Brok,  thank you for this interview.