“Let me repeat it once again,” he added, “Ukraine is an independent country.”

For months, Western officials have protested the prosecution of Ms. Tymoshenko, a former prime minister, who was charged with harming Ukraine by agreeing to pay a high price for Russian natural gas. The critics seemed to have leverage, since Ukraine is on the verge of signing free trade and association deals with the European Union. Hours after the conviction of Ms. Tymoshenko, moreover, Mr. Yanukovich said the verdict was “not a final decision.”

But then Ukraine’s domestic intelligence service announced a new criminal case against Ms. Tymoshenko, centering on the reassigning of debts owed by a private company she headed in the 1990s. On Monday, Mr. Yanukovich said the new charges needed to be thoroughly investigated before any final conclusions could be drawn about the case, and he also said he was awaiting an expert analysis from the European Commission before moving forward with new judiciary reforms.

Image Viktor F. Yanukovich sounded a defiant note. Credit... Reuters

He summed up his approach by quoting the title of a Soviet love song: “Don’t Hurry.”

“We are going to discuss this issue with you more than once,” he said. “All points of view have a right to exist and to be respected. We would like to be treated that way, as well, because often we have the sense that others simply don’t want to listen to what we have to say.”

Mr. Yanukovich said he believed that European leaders were divided on whether Ms. Tymoshenko’s case should be linked with Ukraine’s pending agreements. He denied making any promises to European leaders, saying “these discussions should not by any means be cast as a commitment.” And he suggested that Ukraine was willing to walk away from the deals with the European Union, which would be finalized in December and ratified next summer.