KIEV, Sept. 9 - The daughter of jailed former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko says she is hopeful that her mother will be released to Germany for treatment of her back problem, paving the way for a landmark cooperation deal between this ex-Soviet republic and the European Union.

Tymoshenko, a key opposition leader, is serving a seven-year sentence on charges of abuse of office condemned as political by the West. EU officials have been lobbying President Viktor Yanukovych to allow Tymoshenko to be flown to Germany if he wants the deal signed.

Tymoshenko's daughter Eugenia told reporters Monday that "we hope that the Ukrainian authorities will still solve this issue," AP reported.

Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Rybak said last week that Ukraine will no later than in October resolve the legal issue of releasing Tymoshenko for treatment in Germany, according to BBC Ukraine.

The release of Tymoshenko is one of conditions imposed by the European Union for Ukraine to sign landmark agreements with the EU in November.

“We will fulfill all the conditions in October, including legal solution with the release of Yulia Tymoshenko and her treatment in Germany,” Rybak said speaking in Vilnius at a security conference in Vilnius on Friday.

President Viktor Yanukovych said August 30 that Tymoshenko could get medical treatment abroad if laws are changed to make the move legal.

The fate of Tymoshenko may be the biggest obstacle to signing the agreements between Ukraine and the European Union in November.

Yanukovych and other Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said they are committed to closer integration with the EU, but have so far refused to allow Tymoshenko get treatment in Germany.

Yanukovych said most political parties in Parliament would "unite" to solve outstanding problems relating to European integration and he was optimistic that Kiev would meet criteria laid down by the EU for signing the agreements at a summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

The EU says agreements on association and free trade with Ukraine could be in jeopardy if Yanukovych does not free former prime minister Tymoshenko, his biggest political rival, who was jailed in October 2011.

The EU says her trial for abuse of office was political. (tl/ez)