KIEV, Ukraine -- They fought for seven months, but the payoff was worth it.
Ukrainians on Friday gathered in Kiev's Independence Square -- the epicenter of the months-long clashes that ignited a revolution -- after their newly elected president signed the long-awaited trade agreement with the European Union. It was the same deal that deposed president Viktor Yanukovych backed out of in November, leading to his ousting and bringing the prospect of war to Europe’s doorsteps.
Smiling ear to ear, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko called it "maybe the most important day for my country" since the country broke off from the Soviet Union in 1991. The landmark deals signed by the three countries -- Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia -- ensure closer political and economic ties with the EU.
But for the people of Ukraine, the deal is a symbol of progress -- a shift in cultural mindset, shedding its Soviet identity for one that's all their own. Shortly after Poroshenko inked the documents, the people who started the revolution poured into Independence Square in celebration. After bloodshed and instability hovered over the country for months like a dark cloud, there is finally flecks of light for what they hope is a new Ukraine.
Additional reporting by Christopher Miller in Artemovsk, Ukraine.