Ratified by the 27 EU member states, the agreement needs Dutch endorsement to come into full effect.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte warned Thursday it would be the "biggest ever present" for Russian President Vladimir Putin if a historic EU-Ukraine cooperation deal is torpedoed by popular opposition in the Netherlands.
Rutte said he was "moderately optimistic" of a deal at an EU summit in Brussels for steps to allow his country to finally ratify the deal despite Dutch eurosceptics winning a referendum in April rejecting the pact.
"Taking the agreement off the table would be the biggest present ever we could give to Vladimir Putin," he said as he went into a leaders' summit in Brussels.
"We are not in a position where we can afford to make such gifts to Putin and we must stick together against him," Rutte said, referring to a whole series of disputes with Moscow from Ukraine to Syria.
The European Union agreed the cooperation pact and an associated free trade agreement with Ukraine in 2014 after pro-EU protestors ousted Russia-leaning president Viktor Yanukovych who fled to Moscow.
But Dutch voters opposed the deal on the grounds it opened the door to Ukraine's membership of the bloc and amounted to a defence guarantee for a country already embroiled in bloody conflict with Russia.
Rutte wants his EU peers to give him a statement limiting the bloc's commitments to Ukraine so he can go back to parliament for approval.
Ratified by the other 27 EU member states, the agreement needs Dutch endorsement to come into full effect or it will have to be withdrawn.
President Petro Poroshenko has committed Ukraine, long-ruled from Moscow as a Soviet-era satellite, to a future with the EU.
But the possible failure of the accord has stoked growing fears and anger in Ukraine, with many complaining that the EU is breaking its promises.
Rutte, who faces elections early next year with populist and anti-EU sentiment on the rise, has previously warned he would have no option but to drop the Ukraine pact if he cannot get satisfaction in Brussels.
Officials say EU leaders want to do their best to help him but the issue is extremely complicated given that the statement Rutte seeks could amount to changing some of the bloc's treaty obligations, a no-go area.
One senior EU official said it would be a "huge defeat" for the EU and a "victory for Russia" if the pact cannot be signed.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rutte said he was "moderately optimistic" of a deal at an EU summit in Brussels for steps to allow his country to finally ratify the deal despite Dutch eurosceptics winning a referendum in April rejecting the pact.
"Taking the agreement off the table would be the biggest present ever we could give to Vladimir Putin," he said as he went into a leaders' summit in Brussels.
"We are not in a position where we can afford to make such gifts to Putin and we must stick together against him," Rutte said, referring to a whole series of disputes with Moscow from Ukraine to Syria.
The European Union agreed the cooperation pact and an associated free trade agreement with Ukraine in 2014 after pro-EU protestors ousted Russia-leaning president Viktor Yanukovych who fled to Moscow.
But Dutch voters opposed the deal on the grounds it opened the door to Ukraine's membership of the bloc and amounted to a defence guarantee for a country already embroiled in bloody conflict with Russia.
Rutte wants his EU peers to give him a statement limiting the bloc's commitments to Ukraine so he can go back to parliament for approval.
Ratified by the other 27 EU member states, the agreement needs Dutch endorsement to come into full effect or it will have to be withdrawn.
President Petro Poroshenko has committed Ukraine, long-ruled from Moscow as a Soviet-era satellite, to a future with the EU.
But the possible failure of the accord has stoked growing fears and anger in Ukraine, with many complaining that the EU is breaking its promises.
Rutte, who faces elections early next year with populist and anti-EU sentiment on the rise, has previously warned he would have no option but to drop the Ukraine pact if he cannot get satisfaction in Brussels.
Officials say EU leaders want to do their best to help him but the issue is extremely complicated given that the statement Rutte seeks could amount to changing some of the bloc's treaty obligations, a no-go area.
One senior EU official said it would be a "huge defeat" for the EU and a "victory for Russia" if the pact cannot be signed.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
