06/02/2009 (Agence Europe) - Ukraine should speed up the introduction of political, economic and judicial reforms to win back the trust of the EU, which it lost during the gas crisis, said Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg and EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner after a meeting of the EU troika with the Ukrainian foreign minister, Volodimir Ohrizko, in Prague on 5 February 2009. Schwarzenberg said that in the future, Member States should not be “taken hostage” during trade disputes between countries outside the EU. Ukraine's strategic aim remains to join the EU, said Ohrizko (Ukraine is currently negotiating an Association Agreement with the EU, Ed.) Czech press agency CTK reports that Ohrizko said he hoped Ukraine could join the EU in 2012. (H.B. trans fl)