You're reading: Tombinski says neither postponement nor review of Ukraine-EU free trade area agreement on agenda

The European Union isn't considering any further postponement or review of the implementation of a deep and comprehensive free trade area agreement with Ukraine (DCFTA), Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Jan Tombinski has said.

Speaking to Interfax-Ukraine on the results of trilateral talks between Ukraine, the EU and Russia, he said that the European Commission is ready to consider Russia’s concerns in detail and try to find a solution regarding these aspects within the framework of the flexible, deep and comprehensive free trade area agreement. However, neither the further postponement of the implementation of the DCFTA nor the review of the DCFTA agreement is on the agenda, he said.

The trilateral technical negotiations were held over the past two days, Tombinski said. The purpose of the negotiations was to discuss answers to Russian concerns about the DCFTA, which was part of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. The sides presented their viewpoints and reached an understanding on some issues, he said, adding that certain matters were referred to the political level.

Tombinski said that the European Commission views tripartite negotiations as a form of EU support of the Minsk agreements. The European Commission has always said that it is prepared to do the utmost, including providing political support for the trilateral process, to accelerate the resolution of the Ukrainian conflict, he said.