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By Thomas Grove and Pavel Polityuk KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich said the European Union should stop meddling in the fate of his rival former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, and said her imprisonment should not hinder Kiev's integration with Europe. Pouring scorn on the woman who helped engineer the 2004 Orange Revolution that thwarted his first bid at the presidency, Yanukovich said she was part of a ring of criminals and that her fate should lie in the hands of Ukrainian judges. Tymoshenko's jailing symbolized what Brussels has called Kiev's use of selective justice and his comments effectively dismissed the intense diplomatic efforts by the European Union, in which he has participated, to secure her release. Yanukovich's promise to attend an EU summit on Friday appears intended to soothe domestic outrage over his government's sudden about face, or focus on Ukraine's economic ties with the bloc without making any political promises.
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