OREANDA-NEWS. Ukraine exits the free trade area with Russia, raises duties on all Russian products and puts a trade embargo on a number of goods manufactured in Russia. This was stated by Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk in Ten Minutes on Sunday, January 3.

In connection with the entry into force of the FTA Agreement, the Russian Federation, as expected, imposed a trade embargo against Ukraine and illegally withdrew from the free trade area.

"We give the following answer. Ukraine exits the free trade area with Russia, raises duties on all goods and puts a trade embargo on all food products manufactured in the Russian Federation, as well as on car building and engineering products," said Arseniy Yatsenyuk. "We are taking countermeasures. We didn’t start this war, meanwhile the aggressor will be punished. "

The Prime Minister underlined that the agreement on free trade area between Ukraine and the European Union - "this is the agreement for which millions of Ukrainians fought on the Maidan": "That is the perspective for the Ukrainian economy to become competitive, strong, exemplary and the one that attracts investment from the European Union, creates jobs, trades freely with Europe and allows the Ukrainian businesses to develop and move forward."

The FTA agreement, he emphasised, means above all the duty-free sale of Ukrainian goods to Europe and European goods to Ukraine: "This is competition that is a challenge for the domestic producer. But first of all - an opportunity for Ukrainian business to become stronger, more competitive and win new markets."

Arseniy Yatsenyuk stressed that Russia "did everything to prevent Ukraine from being part of the European space and from returning to our historic European family": "The former regime refused to sign the agreement on a free trade area with the European Union. And millions of Ukrainians went out and we won."

On 21 March, 2014, the Head of Government signed the political part of the Association Agreement, and on June 27, 2014, the President of Ukraine signed the economic part of this Agreement: "Russia tried to stop the entry into force of this Agreement. But from January 1, the agreement came into force. We became part of the European economic family."