Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sees no problems for Ukraine from the Belarusian-Kazakh-Russian Customs Union's operations.
"Regarding the Customs Union itself and the Customs Union’s policy toward third countries, I don’t see big problems. They should not and will not emerge for you. The question is what Ukraine could agree on with its partners in establishing a free trade zone with the European Union," Putin said at negotiations with Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov on Tuesday.
Russia is holding such negotiations itself, but "the level of customs protection of the Customs Union members is about 10.5%, while the level of Ukraine’s customs protection in the WTO is 4.5%," he said.
"We have concerns that, if a free trade zone with the European Union is set up on the same terms, a significant number of [Ukrainian] goods will be unwelcome in foreign markets. These goods might start coming from Ukraine to our customs territory, and in this case, we will have to impose protective measures," Putin said.
"We should talk about this openly and timely and work with our cards open. We all should open our cards with Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and the European Union and look honestly what we have on the table. This is the only way to find solutions acceptable to all, and we will seek exactly these kinds of solutions," he said.
Putin invited his Ukrainian counterpart to Moscow on June 7 to take part in a regular meeting of the economic committee, which will also be attended by representatives of Kazakhstan and Belarus.
