BRUSSELS - Participants in the trilateral talks on the implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement/Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area have identified a number of potential practical solutions and are ready to continue talks at ministerial and expert levels, according to a joint statement on the outcome of the talks.
“The participants reiterated that trade liberalisation, in line with World Trade Organisation (WTO) principles and rules, would contribute to economic growth. Thus, it is understood that any practical solutions have to respect the relevant WTO provisions,” the statement reads.
“Some concerns of the Russian Federation can be addressed in the context of the existing flexibilities available in the DCFTA. For some other concerns solutions can be available in the context of bilateral or trilateral and plurilateral cooperation frameworks,” it said.
The trilateral talks were held on the basis of the Joint Ministerial Statement of Sept. 12, 2014, taking into account on the Feb. 12, 2015 Declaration in support of the “Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements.” Participating in the December 1 talks were the EU Trade Commissioner Malmstrom, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Klimkin and Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Ulyukayev.
