KIEV, December 08, 1:00 /ITAR-TASS/. Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov stated that a pause, which Kiev had taken on the way to signing an association agreement with the European Union, does not mean that the country had allegedly refused signing an agreement on visa-free regime, the prime minister said in statement made public on Saturday.

“This is absolutely not so. As a visa-free regime is determined by a separate agreement and to fulfil it Ukraine should meet fully several requirements and clear-cut criteria. Ukraine has fulfilled the overwhelming majority of demands,” Azarov said.

In his view, the settlement of the issue to introduce a visa-free regime with the European Union is also linked with Russia’s position. “This is why we proposed to discuss all disagreements in the tripartite format. As the visa-free regime with the European Union means the introduction of a visa-free regime for people from European countries on our eastern border,” Azarov said. “Therefore, Russia has voiced concern that the control on the border will be lost. Several Russian politicians have also made statements to introduce visas for Ukrainian citizens. This is absolutely unacceptable for us. In this situation it is very difficult to find a compromising solution without participation of three parties in the talks,” the prime minister noted.

Meanwhile, he said with hope that the talks on the issue might take place soon and “the way to signing an agreement on the visa-free regime will be opened.