EU doesn't confront Ukraine with Tymoshenko issue settlement for signing Association Agreement, says Lithuanian ambassador

The European Union and Ukraine will successfully sign the Association Agreement during the Eastern Partnership Summit in November, Lithuanian Ambassador to Ukraine Petras Vaitiekunas has said.

"Ukraine has demonstrated major progress and continues to take important steps for the fulfillment of its tasks. I think the agreement will be signed successfully in Vilnius in November," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine in Wednesday.

Asked whether release of jailed former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko would be an obligatory condition for the signing of the document and whether the issue could hinder the signing, the diplomat said: "The European Union makes it a condition."

"This condition is broader – fairness to everyone, laws for everyone. The European Union demands that Ukraine's laws and regulations be in line with the EU standards. We are also speaking about the decriminalization of a number of articles of the Criminal Code, which is also required by the EU regulations," he said.

The ambassador also noted that 28 EU members have to sign the agreement and Ukraine should do away with the existing obstacles, as time is important now and the EU is deciding on the signing of the Association Agreement at the moment.