The trial of former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko for tax evasion was adjourned Wednesday until after the Eastern Partnership Summit, at which Kiev plans to sign partnership deals with the European Union (EU).

The court in the eastern city of Kharkov ordered the case to be put back until Dec. 6, a week after the summit.

This was the 24th postponement of the trial. Tymoshenko is receiving treatment at a health center in Kharkov and refuses to appear in court due to back pain.

Tymoshenko faces charges of embezzling an estimated 405 million US dollars and evading more than 87,000 dollars in tax in the 1990s, when she was a businesswoman.

The former prime minister was sentenced to seven years in October 2011 for abusing power in a natural gas deal with Russia. She was later diagnosed with a spinal disc problem.

Tymoshenko's imprisonment, viewed by some countries as "selective justice," has become a key stumbling block in Ukraine's bid to integrate with the EU.

The 28-member bloc has been calling for Tymoshenko's release as a condition for signing the political deals and a free trade pact with Kiev at the Eastern Partnership Summit slated for Nov.28-29 in Vilnius, capital of Lithuania.