Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara claims both Kyiv and Brussels expect to sign an association agreement in 2013.
“At most of my meetings with European commissioners and at the European parliament, I felt great interest in signing the agreement this year,” Kozhara said in an interview with Ukrainian journalists following a visit to Brussels.
In particular, meeting with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, the two discussed preparations for an upcoming Ukraine-EU summit scheduled for February 25 in Brussels and an Eastern Partnership summit to take place in Vilnius in November, he said.
Ukraine is hopeful of progress in the first phase of an action plan for switching to visa-free travel with the EU, he said.
Kozhara said that, while meeting with Ashton, “both parties expressed the hope that an association agreement will be signed.”
“I confirmed that Ukraine is moving along the path of European integration. This is our priority,” he said.
Kozhara said he also informed Ashton of reforms in Ukraine. “Ashton said they would be closely watching these reforms. Their successful implementation will open good prospects for the development of bilateral relations between Ukraine and the EU,” he said.
The two also addressed the situation surrounding former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko.
The Ukrainian foreign minister also informed the EU high representative about the start of Kyiv’s chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
