MOSCOW: Ukraine has said there’s no chance of postponing or changing its EU free-trade pact despite Russia’s threat of sanctions.8
Ukrainian foreign minister, Pavlo Klimkin, told press in Brussels on Monday “The first of January is the final date [for entry into life] of the pact. It’s an ultimate decision taken jointly by Ukraine and by the European Commission”.
“There’s no chance to influence this by the Russian side or any other side … there’s no chance of changing the agreement”.
He spoke after meeting EU trade chief Cecilia Malmstroem and Russian economy minister Alexei Ulyukayev.
The trilateral talks are designed to address Russia’s claims the trade treaty will cause customs problems, health regulation issues, and dumping of cheap EU re-exports in Russia.
But Klimkin, like many EU diplomats and officials, believes Russia is trying to use the talks to obstruct the pact.
He said there’s “no kind of proof” that Russia’s stated concerns had any substance.
He also said Russia’s threat to impose a trade embargo on Ukraine after 1 January makes a mockery of the process.
“If Russia is ready to take political decisions about prohibition of Ukrainian exports, then what kind of substance are we talking about?”.
Ukrainian agricultural exports to Russia already fell by 76 percent, to $175 million, in the first seven months of the year compared to the same period in 2014 due to the crisis.
It stands to lose $1.5 billion a year in industrial exports if Russia’s embargo goes ahead.
But the EU treaty is important to Ukraine for strategic as well as commercial reasons, by anchoring its economy in the single market and paving the way to deeper EU integration.
Klimkin, in Brussels on Monday, also met Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg.
He said Stoltenberg will visit Kiev by the end of the month in a “historic and symbolic” first-ever trip by a Nato chief.
There’s no prospect of Ukraine joining Nato in the near future.
But the visit, which is to see Nato inaugurate its embassy in Kiev, also underlines Ukraine’s right to a sovereign foreign policy in the teeth of Russian complaints.
