Russia, Ukraine, EU yet to agree on Kiev–Brussels association

BRUSSELS, Dec 1 (PRIME) -- Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission have failed to sign an agreement over the Kiev–Brussels free-trade association and ministers will continue working on the issue, Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev told reporters Tuesday.

“Russia, Ukraine and the E.U. have not agreed,” he said. “It was our fifth ministerial meeting…If we had reached understanding a year ago about positions, on which we agreed today, I would have said that we were in the right direction. But as we have only a month left, the situation still raises concern.”

He said that the next meeting has not been scheduled yet.

The sides have discussed possible agreements over the matter, but everything that was suggested is unacceptable for Russia as these agreements were not legally binding. “We have agreed to continue work at the expert and ministerial levels, but extraordinary efforts to reach an agreement are needed as only a month is left,” he said.

This makes the chance that Russia will impose a food import ban on Ukraine from January 1 very high, he added.

An agreement to create a free-trade zone between the E.U. and Ukraine will come in force on January 1, but Russia is worried about the risks it poses to its economy because of the CIS countries’ trade rules.

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