14 July 2014
All problems in Russian-Ukrainian trade created by the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement should be resolved before its implementation, said on July 11 Aleksei Uliukaev, the Russian minister for economic development, as reported by the RIA Novosti news agency. “We are insisting that the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement not become active until these risks zones are resolved,” he said after meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin.
Ukraine, the EU and Russia intend to hold their next ministerial meeting on Sept. 12 to consult on the agreement’s implementation, said on July 11 EU Trade Minister Karel de Gucht after trilateral consultations in Brussels. Ukrainian and Russian experts should try to resolve as many potential problems in trade and economic relations and offer a report no later than Sept. 1, he said.
Zenon Zawada: Given the history of Russian-Ukrainian relations, we can expect the Russian government to use these negotiations to continue to try to undermine the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement and its implementation. Surely, there are legitimate Russian trade concerns with Ukraine but unfortunately they get conflated with political goals. We expect some scandals and further trade barriers to emerge.