REUTERS
Trilateral talks between the European Union, Ukraine and Russia on the implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement/Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) held in Brussels on Tuesday saw no breakthrough, and the sides to the negotiations say they are ready to continue talks at ministerial and expert levels, according to joint operational conclusions.
At the same time, the sides, represented by EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin and Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Alexei Ulyukayev, identified a number of potential practical solutions, the conclusions available on the European Commission's website read.
"Some concerns of the Russian Federation can be addressed in the context of the existing flexibilities available in the DCFTA. For some other concerns solutions can be available in the context of bilateral or trilateral and plurilateral cooperation frameworks," the conclusions read.
The participants reiterated that trade liberalisation, in line with World Trade Organisation (WTO) principles and rules, would contribute to economic growth. Thus, it is understood that any practical solutions have to respect the relevant WTO provisions.
The consultation process at ministerial level was launched on July 11, 2014. Up to now 13 trilateral meetings, including 4 at ministerial level, have taken place to achieve practical solutions to concerns raised by the Russian Federation with regard to the implementation of the DCFTA between Ukraine and the EU, which will be provisionally applied as of January 1, 2016. The ministerial level meetings have provided detailed guidance to the work of experts on the areas related to the implementation of the DCFTA.