President Petro Poroshenko is going to discuss additional steps for the implementation and improving of DCFTA with the EU leaders. "But DCFTA cannot be postponed. That is for sure," the President said in the joint press statement with President of the European Council Donald Tusk and President of the European Commission Jean-­Claude Juncker.

"Last year we made a very difficult and sensitive decision to postpone the launch of the DCFTA for a year. We hoped that this additional time would be used to find the ways to accommodate the Russian concerns as regards implementation of the DCFTA. However, the whole year of trilateral talks proved that Russia did not strive to find any compromise solutions. Its goal is just to put a veto on DCFTA, to halt the process of gradual economic integration of Ukraine in the EU. Therefore, our position is firm and clear: the DCFTA will become operational starting from January 1," Petro Poroshenko stated.

Speaking of the recent decisions of Russian leaders regarding Ukrainian imports, the President noted: "Ukraine is aware of these restrictions. They expected damage to the Ukrainian economy, but we are ready to pay this price for our freedom and for our European choice".

In his turn, Jean-Claude Juncker emphasized great opportunities that will be available for Ukraine after the launch of DCFTA. He is hopeful that the negotiations between Ukraine, EU and Russia on December 21 will be successful.

Speaking of energy cooperation, Petro Poroshenko emphasized: "Ukraine was and remains a reliable partner for the EU on the matter of gas transit as well as a solid contributor to energy security of the EU. We expect the same attitude from the EU partners". In this context, the President once again underlined the position of Ukraine: "The Nord Stream-2 is our greatest concern as of today and it should be blocked as the project which undermines both Ukraine’s and Europe’s energy security".