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Bill on EU association agreement ratification submitted to Ukrainian parliament

Russia, Ukraine and the EU agreed to postpone the creation of the EU-Ukraine free trade zone and preserve the free trade regime within the CIS until December 31, 2015

© ITAR-TASS/Zurab Dzhavakhadze

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Ukraine-EU trade pact delay should be legislatively sealed — minister

KIEV, September 15. /ITAR-TASS/. Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada has registered the bill on the ratification of the Association Agreement with the EU, the press service of President Petro Poroshenko said on Monday.

Russia, Ukraine and the European Union agreed on September 12 to postpone the creation of the EU-Ukraine free trade zone and preserve the free trade regime within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) until December 31, 2015. Their joint declaration says that this measure is “an integral part of the comprehensive peace process in Ukraine that is going on with the observance of Ukraine’s right to independently make decisions on its destiny and territorial integrity.”

As for the agreement ratification, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said that it would be held on Tuesday, September 16. “The agreement will be ratified on Tuesday,” the minister said, adding that the document’s text would not be changed. According to him, thanks to the reached agreements, “the Russian side will not have reasons for the introduction of trade restrictions” on Ukrainian goods.

The agreement reached in Brussels on September 12 to delay the Ukraine-EU free-trade pact is in all the parties’ interests, European Commission spokesperson Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen said on Monday.

The agreement gave additional time to discuss Russia’s anxieties and at the same time support stabilization in Ukraine in the interests of the parties, she noted.

The agreement to delay the implementation of the EU-Ukraine free-trade deal and maintain free trade within the Commonwealth of Independent States until December 31, 2015 was concluded on Friday, September 12 in the course of Ukrainian-EU-Russian consultations with the participation of Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht.

The agreement was part of the peace process in Ukraine with respect for Ukraine’s right to independently decide on its fate and its territorial integrity, the joint declaration said.

To support the stabilization process in Ukraine, the European Commission is ready to show additional flexibility if Ukraine ratifies the Association Aagreement, the EC said.

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Ukraine crisis Ukraine EU Pyotr Poroshenko

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