LVIV, May 17 – Kiev hopes to sign an association agreement with the European Union by the end of this year, Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Hryschenko said.

"We are working on signing an association agreement with the European Union, including [an agreement on] a free trade zone, by the end of the current year, which means during Poland's presidency of the European Union," Hryschenko said at a joint press conference with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski in Lviv on Monday.

Hryschenko said this concerns a negotiation process. He noted that Ukraine would make every effort for the agreement to be signed by the end of the year.