Russia ‘has no objections’ to free trade between Ukraine and EU - Klimkin

The talks were focused certain aspects of implementation of the agreement on a deep and comprehensive free trade zone between Ukraine and the European Union.

"The main outcome of these consultations is the understanding, including by the Russian side, that, firstly, the text of the agreement will not be changed, and secondly, that there is no postponement of the full implementation of a free trade zone between Ukraine and the EU. Our Russian partners did not raise objections to these two fundamental provisions," Klimkin said.

According to the minister, a joint statement has been worked out as the result of the consultations, "which serves as an instruction for our experts."

Klimkin said that consultations would be held in the near future to deal with practical aspects of three areas: customs administration, technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phytosanitary measures. 

"These consultations will be held in a trilateral format, and following the consultations there will be a meeting at the ministerial level. The date of the meeting has not yet been set. However, from a political point of view, all the key points have been highlighted, and the work is carried out solely on the expert level in three areas mentioned," Klimkin said.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine and the EU signed the political part of the Association Agreement on March 21, 2014, and the economic part at the end of June 2014, after the presidential elections. President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed an Association Agreement with the EU in its entirety.

Initially it was assumed that the free trade regime between Ukraine and the EU would take effect from October 2014. However, in September 2014, after consultations in Brussels, representatives of the European Commission, Ukraine and the Russian Federation agreed to postpone the introduction of the provisions of the agreement until December 31, 2015. However, the European Union imposed unilateral preferences on the export of Ukrainian goods, while European goods in Ukraine continue to be subject to duties.

Russia has regularly made efforts to postpone the agreement’s full implementation.

On May 12, the Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Aivaras Abromavicius said that the FTA between Ukraine and the European Union, the introduction of which is part of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, would be launched in full starting from January 1, 2016, despite all attempts of Russia to destabilize the situation in Ukraine and delay the negotiations.