In line with the decision made by foreign ministers of the 27 EU member states during their meeting in Luxembourg on April 23-24, the talks will be held to preserve and expand services trade deals stipulated by partnership and cooperation agreements between the EU, Russia, and Ukraine after the two countries join the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The European Union Council of Foreign Ministers also permitted the European Commission to start talks with Ukraine on the conclusion of a bilateral agreement on export duties with the former Soviet republic.
Moscow has signed bilateral protocols with all but four WTO members and has yet to complete multilateral talks with its trading partners within the organization, which Russia hopes to join by the end of the year.
Russia's chief WTO negotiator, Maxim Medvedkov, said earlier that Ukraine had better chances of joining the WTO, which could be achieved before the end of this summer.
"According to our information, our Ukrainian colleagues are at a more advanced stage in negotiations than Russia. Rumor in Geneva has it that Ukraine could become a WTO member before the end of this summer," Medvedkov said two weeks ago.
Russia and the EU were set to begin talks on the new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement at the Russia-EU summit in Helsinki last November 24, but the negotiations were vetoed by Poland over Russia's ban on its meat exports and Moscow's refusal to sign the Energy Charter.
The PCA between Russia and the EU was signed June 24, 1994 in Corfu, Greece. The document entered into force December 1, 1997. It is valid for 10 years and will be extended further if the two sides deem it useful and necessary. Russia has repeatedly voiced the necessity to start talks.
