You're reading: Ukraine, Turkey to start talks on creation of free trade area

Kyiv and Ankara will begin talks on the creation of a free trade area (FTA), Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a press conference in Ankara on Thursday.

According to the press service of the Ukrainian president, such an agreement was reached at a meeting of the high-level strategic council between Ukraine and Turkey.

"Of course, the beginning of talks on the creation of a free trade area is a very topical issue," Yanukovych said.

The sides also stressed the importance of deepening bilateral cooperation in order to remove barriers in the movement of goods and capital.

Yanukovych and Erdogan also noted the importance of increasing trade between Ukraine and Turkey.

"We consider it possible to increase bilateral trade to $20 billion by the end of 2015 and to $40 billion by 2020," Erdogan said.