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EU ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT: UKRAINE FEE TO PICK PARTNERS, PUTIN SAYS
September 20, 2013 - 10:04 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia respects Ukraine's right to choose its
priorities and partners, including Kiev's choice between closer
economic cooperation with Moscow or European integration, Russian
President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, September 19, according
to RIA Novosti.
"Today, Ukraine is an independent state and we respect it. And,
of course, the choice of priorities, the choice of allies is a
national sovereign right of the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian
leadership," Putin said at a meeting of the annual Valdai Discussion
Club, commenting on Ukraine's plans to sign an association agreement
with the European Union.
On Wednesday Ukraine's government approved the draft European Union
Association Agreement, moving the country one step closer to its
final signing, which is slated for November.
Moscow has been increasing pressure on Kiev to join the Customs
Union, which would - in effect - keep Ukraine under Russia's sphere
of influence. Although Ukraine has observer status in this bloc,
it has made it clear it does not plan to take on full membership.
During Thursday's meeting of the Valdai Club, which gathered high-level
Russian officials and foreign political scientists, Putin reiterated
that Russia is worried that European goods could enter Ukraine - free
of import duties - and then be re-exported to Customs Union countries,
flooding the market and undercutting domestic producers.
The Russian president added that Russia was also seeking to sign a
new basic agreement with the EU and if the two states joined forces
and entered the talks with a common stance, they would be able to
negotiate more favorable terms of the deal.
"We believe that if Ukraine joined the Customs Union and we coordinated
our joint efforts and negotiated with the Europeans, we would had
more chance to negotiate better terms of trade with our main economic
and trade partner," Putin said, adding that trade with the EU states
accounts for nearly a half of all Russian trade turnover.
He said that according to estimates made by Russian experts and
confirmed by Ukraine's Academy of Sciences, Ukraine would receive
additional budget incomes of nearly $9 billion if it joins the
Customs Union.
"[But] how would [Ukraine] benefit from the association with EU? Open
markets? Well, this does make economy more liberal. But I have no
idea about whether Ukrainian economy will be able to cope with such
liberalism. But this is not our business, our Ukrainian partners
should decide it for themselves," Putin said. The EU, concerned over
Armenia's jointing the Customs Union, will make concessions to Ukraine
in signing the Association Agreement, Eavex Capital investment company
said in an analytical article on September 16.
"With Ukraine as the most important country in the Eastern Partnership,
the recent EU statement should be viewed as an expression of support
to Kyiv in its intention to sign the Association and Free Trade
agreements in Vilnius," ForUm quoted Eavex Capital as saying.
According to analysts, the European Commission President Jose Manuel
Barroso may back Ukraine in this issue, having earlier mentioned
Kyiv's European aspirations as a priority.
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/170228/
September 20, 2013 - 10:04 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia respects Ukraine's right to choose its
priorities and partners, including Kiev's choice between closer
economic cooperation with Moscow or European integration, Russian
President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, September 19, according
to RIA Novosti.
"Today, Ukraine is an independent state and we respect it. And,
of course, the choice of priorities, the choice of allies is a
national sovereign right of the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian
leadership," Putin said at a meeting of the annual Valdai Discussion
Club, commenting on Ukraine's plans to sign an association agreement
with the European Union.
On Wednesday Ukraine's government approved the draft European Union
Association Agreement, moving the country one step closer to its
final signing, which is slated for November.
Moscow has been increasing pressure on Kiev to join the Customs
Union, which would - in effect - keep Ukraine under Russia's sphere
of influence. Although Ukraine has observer status in this bloc,
it has made it clear it does not plan to take on full membership.
During Thursday's meeting of the Valdai Club, which gathered high-level
Russian officials and foreign political scientists, Putin reiterated
that Russia is worried that European goods could enter Ukraine - free
of import duties - and then be re-exported to Customs Union countries,
flooding the market and undercutting domestic producers.
The Russian president added that Russia was also seeking to sign a
new basic agreement with the EU and if the two states joined forces
and entered the talks with a common stance, they would be able to
negotiate more favorable terms of the deal.
"We believe that if Ukraine joined the Customs Union and we coordinated
our joint efforts and negotiated with the Europeans, we would had
more chance to negotiate better terms of trade with our main economic
and trade partner," Putin said, adding that trade with the EU states
accounts for nearly a half of all Russian trade turnover.
He said that according to estimates made by Russian experts and
confirmed by Ukraine's Academy of Sciences, Ukraine would receive
additional budget incomes of nearly $9 billion if it joins the
Customs Union.
"[But] how would [Ukraine] benefit from the association with EU? Open
markets? Well, this does make economy more liberal. But I have no
idea about whether Ukrainian economy will be able to cope with such
liberalism. But this is not our business, our Ukrainian partners
should decide it for themselves," Putin said. The EU, concerned over
Armenia's jointing the Customs Union, will make concessions to Ukraine
in signing the Association Agreement, Eavex Capital investment company
said in an analytical article on September 16.
"With Ukraine as the most important country in the Eastern Partnership,
the recent EU statement should be viewed as an expression of support
to Kyiv in its intention to sign the Association and Free Trade
agreements in Vilnius," ForUm quoted Eavex Capital as saying.
According to analysts, the European Commission President Jose Manuel
Barroso may back Ukraine in this issue, having earlier mentioned
Kyiv's European aspirations as a priority.
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/170228/