MINSK, August 27 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow, Kiev and Brussels will search for ways to allay Russia’s concerns about Ukraine’s association with the European Union but it remains unclear yet whether this could lead to changes in the text of the agreement,” Russian Deputy Minister of Economic Development Alexei Likhachev told RIA Novosti Wednesday.
“This is not yet to say that there is an agreement to introduce changes to the deal," Likhachev stressed.
Earlier on Tuesday, Minsk was hosting the Customs Union-Ukraine-EU meeting, during which the sides agreed to enhance the work of the trilateral group for the implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.
The Russian side has once again pointed to significant risks the implementation of the agreement poses for the Russian economy. The country might suffer a financial damage in excess of 100 billion rubles ($2.8 billion) as a result of Ukraine’s integration into the European Union, with the manufacturing industry and agriculture taking the hardest blow. The Russian president stressed that in this case Russia would not stand idle and would be forced to take response measures in case no agreements were reached.
The political provisions of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union were signed back in March, after ex-President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovitch was ousted and the new interim government came to power.
The economic part of the agreement was signed by current Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in June.
