Ukraine will continue to follow its path to integration with the European Union, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Hryschenko has said.
"We have the best rate of dialog with the European Union among the neighbors of the European Union in the post soviet area. We are not intending to reduce this rate and will make every effort for the next Ukraine-EU summit scheduled for December not just to be successful, but historic," he said at an international conference entitled "Ukraine on the Way of Integration With the European Union: Current State and Further Prospects" in Kyiv on Friday.
The minister said that the forthcoming summit "must lay the foundation for the further qualitative evolution of our relations, the evolution from partnership and cooperation, via association and economic integration, to membership."
According to Hryschenko, the talks on signing an association agreement and the creation of a free trade zone are coming to an end.
"Our strategic aim is membership of the European Union. The main stage on this way is signing an association agreement. Today we are at the final stage: We are jointly trying to finish these talks as soon as possible. Only several main issues have to be solved for the signing, one of which is the [EU membership] prospects for Ukraine," the foreign minister said.
