KIEV, March 1 – Ukraine has until May to at least start to carry out necessary reforms if it wants to sign an association agreement with the European Union this year, said Jan Tombinski, head of the EU delegation to Ukraine.

"If you read the statement (the joint statement of the EU-Ukraine summit) carefully, it says that the work in this direction should begin by May at the latest. And when the time comes, we could return to our work to obtain a mandate from the European Commission for signing the association agreement," Tombinski said on the TVi Channel on Thursday evening.