You're reading: Ukraine to cooperate with Customs Union only on mutually beneficial terms

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Hryschenko has said that Ukraine's cooperation with the Customs Union under a "3+1" scheme should base primarily on the principles of pragmatism and mutually beneficial cooperation.

"If we are talking about the economy, I believe that a compromise formula can always be reached, which would suit both members of the Customs Union and those who want to protect their domestic market and our exporters who are willing to work in this market," the minister said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

He noted that Ukrainian products were in demand in Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. "If we do not politicize the issue, then caramel, machinery, pipes, and other commodities will continue to be in demand in the Customs Union, for the benefit and not to the detriment of their economies. The main thing is to refrain from the temptation to use, often to the detriment of themselves, tariff and non-tariff restrictions on imports to attempt to influence the geopolitical choice of neighbors," Hryschenko said.

"If we refrain from politicizing this issue, both candies, engineering tools, pipes and other commodities will continue enjoying demand in the Customs Union countries, benefiting, not harming, their domestic economies. What counts most is to resist the temptation to use, frequently harming ourselves, tariff and non-tariff restrictions on imports in an attempt to influence a neighbor’s geopolitical choice," Hryschenko said.

Commenting on calls to join the Eurasian Union, the Ukrainian minister said that "the country’s strategic development course and its foreign policy, built on a broad social consensus, have already been determined, and everything that runs counter to them cannot be treated seriously."

The Customs Union’s member states planning to form the Eurasian Union account for approximately the same portion of Ukraine’s trade as all of the European Union’s 27 member countries, the minister said.

"That is why we keep looking for an acceptable formula of cooperation with this entity for the sake of advocating Ukrainian exporters’ interests," Hryschenko said.