BERLIN, Feb. 28 - Ukraine's European Union membership aspirations do not negatively impact its relations with Russia, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said.

Kiev's strategic goal is to acquire the EU membership "has been known to Russia for a long time, and it has never influenced mutually beneficial partnership relations and has never impacted decisions within the framework of bilateral trade and economic relations," he said at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel after talks in Berlin on Wednesday.