Ukraine will join the Customs Union agreements not contradicting the international obligations, President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych said following talks with President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on 18 June, BelTA learned.

Viktor Yanukovych said that Ukraine has been isolated from the process of establishment of the Customs Union. During this time, the "troika" has taken many steps. According to the Ukrainian head of state, necessary instruments were necessary for Ukraine to be able to join the Customs Union. And one of them was the memorandum to enhance cooperation between Ukraine and the Eurasian Economic Commission signed in Minsk on 31 May. “This decision was dictated by purely economic interests of Ukraine and traditional relationships between the countries of the Customs Union and Ukraine,” Viktor Yanukovych stressed. He noted that in 2012 the Customs Union countries accounted for over 36% of Ukraine's foreign trade, which was about $63 billion.

“I am confident that the efforts to promote interaction with the Customs Union and in the future with the Eurasian Economic Union will help to achieve the necessary progress in economic cooperation and improvement of the well-being of people,” the Ukrainian leader said.

"The signing of the memorandum is in the interests of Ukraine and in no way contradicts the association agreement with the EU," Viktor Yanukovych underlined.

He said that during the talks with the Belarusian leader the need was underlined for the development of equal and mutually beneficial cooperation between Ukraine and the new economic integration associations in the CIS. Viktor Yanukovych noted the contribution of the Belarusian partners to promoting the dialogue between Ukraine and the Customs Union.


 

belta