EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and European Commission Vice-President Catherine Ashton is to visit Kyiv next week, European Commission spokesperson Olivier Bailly said at a press conference in Brussels on Thursday.

He said that European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso had announced this during a phone conversation with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

"President Yanukovych welcomed visits by both Ashton and European Commissioner Stefan Fule," Bailly said.

Fule is to visit Ukraine on January 24-25.