KIEV, August 27 (RIA Novosti) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Wednesday he would submit a draft association agreement with the European Union to parliament for ratification in mid-September.
“The EU association agreement will be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada for ratification in mid-September,” Poroshenko wrote on his Twitter account.
Earlier in the day, Poroshenko signed a decree to dissolve the parliament, with new elections slated for October 26.
Moscow has urged Kiev to postpone its decision to ratify its association agreement with the European Union, given the implementation of the agreement carries economic risk for Russian-Ukrainian relations.
On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia may lose about $3 billion if the agreement gets ratified. Putin also mentioned that Russia’s economy will not be the only one to be hurt if Poroshenko goes ahead with the agreement.
Russian leader said that signing the agreement will cost Ukraine itself billions of euros as the country will have to adapt to EU standards.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Segrei Lavrov said that if the agreement is ratified, Russia will be forced to protect its economic interests against an inflow of cheap European goods via Ukraine, which is also a member of its customs union.
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.
