Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Rybak has said he sees no contradiction between Ukraine's participation in the Customs Union and cooperation with the European Union.

"They tell us where we are going: some say that we should go to the Customs Union and others say that we should go to the European Union. We must conduct a policy so that we can have contracts with the Customs Union and with the states that are around us, so that we can supply our products there," Rybak told reporters in Chernihiv on Friday, Interfax reports.

"We don't have to be afraid of the Customs Union. We have to sign about 120 agreements in order to be a full member of the Customs Union," he said.

He said that President Viktor Yanukovych thinks that Ukraine should become an observer in the Customs Union in order to see what agreements advantageous to Ukraine could be signed.
"We need the European Union. I think that the association agreement will be signed in November," Rybak said.

At the same time, he noted that it would take ten more years for Ukraine to become a full member of the EU.

He said that the living standards in Ukraine currently do not reflect the improvement of people's lives and therefore Ukraine needs new standards in education, medicine, social support, and job creation.

"We have to be friends with everyone and look for what is advantageous to Ukraine," Rybak said.

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