KIEV, Ukraine, July 9 (UPI) -- Kiev is moving closer than ever to its former patrons in the Kremlin, opposition leader and former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said.
Tymoshenko as prime minister from 2007 to 2010 sparred with Moscow over gas contracts. Russian gas monopoly Gazprom in January 2009 cut gas supplies to Ukraine because of disputes over contracts and debt.
The new government of Viktor Yanukovych in April secured a 30-percent discount for gas in exchange for an extended lease for the Russian Black Sea fleet in Crimea.
Tymoshenko said in an interview with the Ukrainian bureau of the BBC that Kiev was moving too close to Moscow.
"Today we are witnessing a gradual step-by-step absorption of Ukraine and in my opinion this may be followed by more risky consequences for Ukraine, affecting its political sovereignty," she was quoted in Russia's state-owned news agency RIA Novosti as saying.
Tymoshenko was a vocal critic of the revised gas deal that was considered by Ukrainian lawmakers in April. She complained the deal was "unconstitutional" and a "shocking" move closer to Moscow.
A dust-up among lawmakers during debate in Kiev caused major damage to the building housing the Ukrainian Parliament.
