The EU Association Agreement (AA) was initialed on 30 March 2012 in Brussels; but as of November 2012 the 27 EU governments and the European Parliament had yet to sign the accord. The treatment and sentencing (considered by EU leaders as a politically motivated trial) of former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko have strained the relations between the EU and Ukraine. The European Union and several of its member states, notably Germany, have been pressuring Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich and his Azarov Government to halt the detention of Tymoshenko in fear of her degrading health. Several meetings with Yanukovich have been deserted by EU leaders, including the German president Joachim Gauck.