Brussels, Sep 13 (IANS): The European Union (EU) Friday announced to delay implementation of the association agreement with Ukraine until the end of 2015.

EU Trade Commissioner Karl De Gucht, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin and Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Alexei Ulyukayev in a trilateral ministerial meeting agreed on the importance of promoting trade liberalisation in support of growth and greater prosperity, in line with their WTO obligations, Xinhua reported.

The statement said the commission is ready, in the event that Ukraine ratifies the association agreement with the EU, to propose additional flexibility. Such flexibility will consist in delaying until December 31, 2015.

The three parties will continue to consult on how to address concerns raised by Russia. The progress of these consultations will be reviewed at trilateral ministerial meetings.

On the basis of this understanding, Russia and Ukraine confirm that they will continue to apply the Commonwealth of Independent States Free Trade Agreement (CISFTA) preferential regime.