You're reading: Kyiv wants to speed up talks on free trade with Canada, Israel, Turkey and Serbia

 Ukraine should speed up talks on the establishment of free trade areas with Canada, Israel, Turkey and Serbia, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara has said. 

“We need to speed up the signing of agreements on the formation of free trade areas with promising business partners, such as Canada, Israel, Turkey and Serbia,” Kozhara said at a joint staff meeting of the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade in Kyiv on Tuesday, while speaking about the Foreign Ministry’s priorities for this year.

According to him, this task becomes even more relevant in the view of the start of trade partnership between the EU and the United States.

The Foreign Ministry also supports active use of the tools provided by the membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) for protecting national economic interests of Ukraine.

He mentioned the need to find a mutually acceptable format of cooperation with the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

“We need to intensify the search for an acceptable format of cooperation with the Customs Union, which would not contradict our European integration policy,” Kozhara said.