Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told a press conference at the bilateral summit in Brussels that a potential visa liberalisation deal appeared likely but was being held up by a technicality.
“We are very close to a compromise,” Poroshenko said.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, standing next to Poroshenko, said that such a deal could be ready by the end of this year.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, proposed lifting visa requirements in April after concluding that Ukraine had met the bloc’s requirements.
The proposal, which has to be approved by the European Parliament and all 28 member states to go into force, would enable Ukrainians and EU citizens to travel without a visa between such territories for a period of up to 90 days in any 180-day period.
However, member states insisted on a stronger emergency-brake mechanism that would allow the EU to suspend the visa-free privilege.
Ukrainians have hoped for a visa-free travel regime with the EU since their government signed an association agreement with the bloc two years ago.
The association agreement, which has yet to be completely ratified, was signed just weeks after the country’s former pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, was ousted amid mass protests over his refusal to sign it.
Yanukovych fled to Russia, and his home was overrun by protesters.
Russia denounced the actions as a Western-orchestrated coup and responded by occupying southern Ukraine’s Crimea region – the site of a major Russian naval base – and supporting a pro-Russian separatist rebellion in Ukraine’s two easternmost regions.
Poroshenko said yesterday that Kiev has urged the EU to maintain sanctions against Russia “until the full national integrity of Ukraine is restored”.
He said he also expects continued support from the United States despite US president-elect Donald Trump’s pledges to rebuild shattered ties with Russia.
“Ukraine has strong bipartisan support in the US. We don’t expect significant changes in this support,” Poroshenko told reporters.
The EU is expected to prolong sanctions against Russia by at least another six months, a source from the Ukraine mission to the EU told DPA.
The European Commission signed an agreement at the summit to allocate €15mn for anti-corruption measures in Ukraine as part of an overall support package worth more than €300mn, the commission said in a statement.
“This new funding is evidence of the EU’s continued support to the Ukrainian reform process and to fundamental, sustained change to the way the country is governed,” EU neighbourhood policy commissioner Johannes Hahn said in the statement.
“The EU is committed to building better governance for Ukraine and fostering economic reforms to make Ukraine a stronger, more prosperous and more resilient country,” Hahn said.
