Brussels, 18/07/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, at the end of meeting with the Ukrainian minister for foreign affairs, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Peter Mandelson declared that many questions remained pending but none of them were too serious (within the bilateral negotiations framework between the Commission and Kiev authorities) to obstruct Ukraine from joining the WTO. The commissioner for trade welcomed Kiev's proposals for joining the multilateral organisation responsible for governing world trade. He said that accession was “very important for the Ukraine and the WTO” and that together with Russia, Ukraine's absence from the WTO created a huge shortfall. Accession was also essential for enhancing bilateral economic relations between the EU and Ukraine, between whom negotiations are currently being pursued to replace the current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with a strengthened partnership agreement. Joining the WTO is also indispensable for reaching a bilateral free trade agreement between the EU/Ukraine. Mandelson confirmed that the Commission intended to launch negotiations with Kiev for such an agreement once Ukraine had joined the WTO. Kiev intends to conclude accession negotiations by the end of the year, after finalising bilateral discussions between the EU and Kirghizstan. (eh)