Ukraine on Wednesday attempted to contain the damage caused to its image and diplomatic ties after both the West and Russia angrily condemned the jailing of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.A Kiev court on Tuesday jugged the leader of the pro-Western 2004 Orange Revolution for seven years, prompting allegations that President Viktor Yanukovych was resorting to Stalinist methods to deal with opponents.
The jailing of Tymoshenko for abusing her powers in a gas deal signed with Russia in 2009 -- an offence that would not have even come to a criminal court in Europe -- has also endangered Ukraine's hopes of EU integration.
Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko defiantly rejected criticism that the trial was politically motivated, saying Tymoshenko "was not prosecuted for her political beliefs but specific actions violating Ukraine legislation."
"Nobody should be above the law," he told news hounds on a trip to Estonia.
But Yanukovych has also emphasized the court's decision was not final and his Regions Party has hinted that possible changes in the law to decriminalize the articles under which Tymoshenko was condemned could resolve the crisis.
Gryshchenko acknowledged that it was "important for Ukraine to have very serious reform of the judicial and legal system" although he said he was not referring to a specific case.
Top Yanukovych advisor Anna German told Channel 5 in an interview that "we need to take lessons from what has happened and reform our laws so that similar situations are not so painful for Ukraine."
Pro-Tymoshenko MPs in the Ukrainian parliament have said they will put forward a proposal to decriminalize the article in the criminal code when it resumes sitting next week.
The Regions Party of Yanukovych, which holds the majority in the Verkhovna Rada, has said that it could support such a move, although it has yet to take any concrete decision. Yanukovych is due to visit Brussels on October 20.