Ukraine Leader To Visit EU Next Week

President-elect Viktor Yanukovych during a preelection rally in Kyiv in early February

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -- Ukrainian President-elect Viktor Yanukovych will visit Brussels on February 29 to show his commitment to developing relations with Europe, a European Union official has said.

Yanukovych, who will be sworn in on February 25, has been trying to show he will balance ties between Moscow and the West and that he is not hostile to the EU. The official said he was likely to visit Brussels before he visits Russia.

"He is coming on Monday," said the EU official, who declined to be named. "Yanukovych wants to send a clear message to Europe by going to Europe on his first foreign trip."