BRUSSELS, Jan. 31 – Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara claims both Kiev and Brussels expect to sign an association agreement in 2013.

"At most of my meetings with European commissioners and at the European parliament, I felt great interest in signing the agreement this year," Kozhara said in an interview with Ukrainian journalists following a visit to Brussels.

In particular, meeting with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, the two discussed preparations for an upcoming Ukraine-EU summit scheduled for February 25 in Brussels and an Eastern Partnership summit to take place in Vilnius in November, he said.