You're reading: Ukraine pins high hopes on Poland’s presidency of EU Council

Ukraine welcomes the start of Poland's six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

"We are confident that Poland will manage to successfully implement the key priorities of its presidency. From our part, we pin high hopes on cooperation with our Polish partners in achieving ambitious goals in Ukraine’s relations with the EU this year, the main of which are the completion of talks on signing an association agreement, including the creation of a deep and comprehensive free trade area, and a transition to the second stage of implementing an action plan on visa liberalization," reads the statement.

The Ukrainian side also expressed its readiness to actively cooperate with Poland in order to prepare for and successfully hold a summit of the Eastern Partnership initiative that will be held in Warsaw in September 2011.

The ministry said that cooperation with Poland in the context of its EU presidency would be an important element of strategic partnership between the two countries.