President Petro Poroshenko emphasizes that participants of the 18^th Ukraine-EU Summit agreed on clear prospects of ratification of the Association Agreement and confirmed immutability of its provisions.

“The first thing we agreed on today is clear prospects of ratification of the Association Agreement. This Agreement has become a symbol of new Ukraine, reforms and struggle of our state for European future,” Petro Poroshenko noted during the joint media statement with President of the European Council Donald Tusk, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker following the Ukraine-EU Summit.

“Ukraine and the EU share common position that the provisions of the Association Agreement cannot be revised or amended in any way. Likewise, it is impossible to lower our ambitions for the Agreement,” the Head of State said.

According to him, the aftermath of this Summit firmly declares that we are doing this and moving in the right direction.

The President reminded that three years ago, the people of Ukraine had come to Maidan with a demand to sign and implement that Agreement.

The Head of State emphasized that delaying its ratification would benefit neither Ukraine nor the EU and expressed confidence that Ukraine and the EU had to resist populism and prevent that fight to be won by the country-invader.

“I hope that in the course of the EU Summit we will advance in the ratification of the Association Agreement so that it finally works at full capacity. Just as the DCFTA Agreement entered into force on January 1,” he said.

Petro Poroshenko noted tangible progress in the implementation of the free trade area between Ukraine and the EU: for the first 10 months of FTA our trade turnover with the EU increased by 5% and the volume of trade with the EU entered the top place equaling 41%.

“I expressed gratitude to the EU leaders for their willingness to promote fast introduction of autonomous trade preferences provided for the Government of Ukraine and take a series of measures to support efficient fulfillment of the FTA Agreement, which will further open the EU market for Ukrainian producers of goods,” he noted.

In his turn, President of the European Council Donald Tusk started his speech in Ukrainian and expressed admiration for the aspiration of Ukraine to join the EU and for the courage of the Ukrainian people. "I am deeply impressed by the patience and determination of the Ukrainian people in their struggle for territorial integrity and sovereignty. You are a unique example of courage, dignity and practical reason. I know you deserve more from us, from Europe. You have many friends here. And I can promise you that we will not leave you behind," Donald Tusk said.

He also clearly noted that “the EU will further make efforts to implement the expectations of Ukrainians and it should become a success of the whole Europe”.