KIEV, Sept. 19 – Ukraine may get a visa-free regime with the European Union at the Eastern Partnership summit in Riga in May 2015, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Olena Zerkal has said.

"Now, in terms of all our plans, only the launch of the procedure for issuing biometric passports is set for January 1. But the visa regime cannot be cancelled until the EU assesses how the production occurs, how the system works, and how passports of serial production are protected. This assessment takes time," she said in an interview with the Yevropeiska Pravda online newspaper published on Friday.