1ST LEAD No breakthrough in talks with Russia over EU-Ukraine trade deal By …
Brussels (dpa) – Three-way talks aimed at resolving Russian concerns
over a free trade agreement struck between the European Union and
Ukraine failed Tuesday to deliver a breakthrough, with just a month
left before the deal comes into effect.
Russia has threatened to impose economic sanctions on Kyiv from
January 1, the date when the agreement is set to go into force.
The start date had previously been delayed by a year to address fears
raised by Moscow that the deal could adversely affect its economy.
The European Commission – the EU‘s executive – is steadfast that it
will not be postponed a second time.
“Now the clock is ticking very fast,” EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia
Malmstrom told a small group of journalists after several hours of
talks with Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev and
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin.
Despite a “very intense” meeting, the three sides failed to agree on
a common text, as there was no time to fully assess a new list of
Russian demands, the commissioner said.
“Russia came unexpectedly with a very, very long list of amendments
that they presented at the table,” she said, adding, “I was a bit
surprised.”
Some of Moscow‘s concerns can be addressed by “practical solutions,”
the three agreed in a joint statement issued after their meeting.
This includes issues such as customs, food safety and animal health
standards, or other technical barriers to trade, Malmstrom said,
adding that talks could resume at an expert level next week, in the
hope of resolving these problems by the end of the year.
But other issues are political, or must be addressed bilaterally by
Russia and Ukraine, she added.
“The whole notion of delaying this was for political reasons, that is
crystal clear,” the commissioner said.
Brussels and Kyiv agreed to strengthen their political and economic
ties last year, despite opposition from Moscow.
A first attempt to finalize that deal had failed in 2013, triggering
protests in Kyiv that led to the ouster of Ukraine‘s pro-Russian
president, followed by Russia‘s annexation of Ukraine‘s Crimea region
and a pro-Russian separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine.
Relations between Brussels and Moscow have since fallen to their
lowest level since the Cold War. The conflict in eastern Ukraine has
heightened tensions on other issues, such as Russian gas supplies and
trade relations.
Ukraine has a preferential trade relationship with Russia, as it is
part of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Moscow threatened
last month to withdraw this status and to ban food imports from
Ukraine.
Ulyukayev said Tuesday there is a high probability that Russia will
go ahead with these measures, noting that they have nothing to do
with the EU-Ukraine free trade deal.
“The food embargo has nothing to do with it. These are two entirely
different legal segments,” the minister said following the talks in
Brussels, TASS news agency reported. He said it was in response to a
decision by Kyiv to join the EU in imposing sanctions on Russia.
Kyiv has estimated that it would lose about 600 million dollars in
potential revenue as a result of the Russian import ban.
Ukraine has already taken steps to reduce its economic dependence on
Russia, with the country making up just 15 per cent of Ukrainian
exports in the first half of 2015, according to the European
Commission.
Reaching agreement on the EU-Ukraine free trade agreement has been
set as an important milestone in the framework of the Minsk ceasefire
deal for eastern Ukraine, agreed in February, which was supposed to
be implemented by the end of the year.