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Ukraine does not rule out integration in Customs Union - president

Yanukovych stressed that members of the Union - Russia and Kazakhstan - will soon become members of the World Trade Organisation

YALTA, July 13 (Itar-Tass) —— Ukraine does not rule out integration into the Customs Union of the Unified Economic Space /Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus/, Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych said on Thursday after the meeting of the Ukrainian-Russian economic commission.

"Ukraine is studying carefully activities of the Customs Union and proposes starting cooperation on the sector level," he said. At the same time Yanukovych stressed that members of the Union - Russia and Kazakhstan - will soon become members of the World Trade Organisation, which may change slightly terms of the community’s functioning.

"Once these countries become members of the WTO, it will make us closer to each other. Therefore, we do not say "no", but study very carefully and seriously these processes," the Ukrainian president said.

Earlier, Yanukovych said about Ukraine's interest in search for mechanisms of cooperation with the Customs Union and the UES. "We are doomed to look for a model of cooperation with the Customs, and in the future - with the Eurasian Union," he noted. According to him, Ukraine keeps the status of an observer. "As for the integration, we are observers as yet: we look, we calculate. We watch closely how Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus structure the Customs Union, creating a perspective of the Eurasian Union. We are watching and see not only advantages but also disadvantages," Yanukovych said.