KIEV, Oct. 20 – Ukraine’s free trade deal with Russia and other CIS countries will not be a problem for signing a free trade agreement with the European Union later this year, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said Thursday.

“There can’t be too much free trade,” Azarov said while opening a Cabinet meeting. “One freedom cannot cancel the other one.”

Ukraine has been preparing to sign a free trade agreement with the EU by the end of the year, but signed the trade deal with Russia and other CIS countries earlier this week.

The latest move triggered concerns among opposition politicians that Ukraine has been changing its foreign policy course towards greater integration with Russia.

Azarov praised the deal by suggesting Ukraine has become part of an alternative free trade area covering 260 million people, including Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and other countries.

“One has to clearly understand what has happened this Tuesday,” Azarov said. “A new, huge free trade area has been created in Europe. It is unique because it is integrating markets and natural resources of both, Europe and Asia.”

But Azarov said his government will continue talks with the EU in order to sign the free trade agreement before the end of the year and get access to markers covering 500 million people.

“The next point of our plan for getting access to foreign markets will be signing of the same agreement with the EU,” Azarov said.

Ukraine has been expecting the free trade deal with Russia and other CIS countries will help to boost economic growth at 2 extra percentage points in 2012, earning Ukraine an extra 9.5 billion hryvnias next year.

“The CIS countries account for a third of our exports,” Azarov said. “This is potential market for our goods and commodities.”

On Wednesday Azarov admitted that the free trade deal with Russia has certain restrictions by excluding sugar, oil and gas from the deal indefinitely.

This shows that Ukraine has failed to persuade Russia to lift the restrictions that had been in place for at least 15 years.

The signing of the free trade deal with Russia came immediately after Ukraine had suffered a setback in relations with the EU, which had postponed indefinitely a meeting with Yanukovych in Brussels earlier this week following criticism over democracy in the country.

The move may jeopardize the free trade agreement and political association deal that Ukraine has been seeking to sign with the EU before the end of the year.

Ukraine has earlier this year refused to joint the Customs Union with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, a deep level of integration that would derail free trade talks with the European Union.

Meanwhile, Ukraine and the EU on Thursday finalized details of a free trade agreement by agreeing upon all key parameters, according to Karel De Gucht, European Commissioner for Trade.

De Gucht held talks with First Deputy Prime Minister Andriy Kliuyev in Brussels.

"Today we reached the cornerstone of our relationship - we have completed negotiations on the free trade zone," said Gucht.

Kliuyev said the talks “stipulate finalization of the Association Agreement before the end of the current year." (tl/ez)