EU looks to reassure Russia on Ukraine trade deal

BRUSSELS, July 12 (AFP): Ukraine, Russia and the European Union sat down Friday for a first round of talks intended to reassure Moscow on the consequences of tighter trade links between Kiev and Brussels.
Late last month, Ukraine and the EU signed a long-delayed Association Agreement-the very deal whose last-minute refusal last year by then president Viktor Yanukovych plunged the country into chaos.
The agreement opens up Ukraine to EU imports. Moscow worries this will also allow cheap European products to flood into Russia, which has its own free-trade deal with Kiev.
EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said the parties agreed to address Russia's concerns at a high level over the coming weeks, with a new ministerial meeting set for September 12.
"All parties agreed to engage in this process in good faith," De Gucht said after the talks with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klymkin and Russia's Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev.