A European Commission official has said Brussels believes in the sincerity of Kyiv's intentions to create a free trade area with the European Union.
Deputy Head of the Unit of Trade Relations with Europe and Central Asia at the Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission Philippe Cuisson announced this at a roundtable meeting on the creation of a free trade area between Ukraine and the EU, which took place at the European Policy Centre in Brussels on Thursday.
"What was important for me was to hear in the speech by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych [in his annual address to parliament] that the free trade area is a goal for this year, that this should not harm relations with Russia, and that Ukraine is ready to cooperate with the Customs Union. This [such cooperation] is not a problem for us," he said.
Cuisson recalled that talks with Ukraine on the free trade area, including their preparatory part, had lasted four years. Based on the practices of the European Commission, if the talks are held longer than this time, they fail.
"Either we successfully end them, or they will fail. For us, the failure of these talks [with Ukraine] is not a subject for consideration. We will succeed, and to do so we must reach a compromise," he said, adding:" We hope that this year will be final for us."
He also said that in case of the timely ratification of the document, the free trade area between Ukraine and the EU could enter into force in 2013.
