(BRDO PRI KRANJU) - The European Commission hopes to reach an agreement for closer ties with Ukraine by the end of 2009, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said on Thursday.

She added that Ukraine's accession last week to the World Trade Organization was a vital step in that direction.

"WTO's accession... has opened the door for launching negotiations on a deep comprehensive free trade agreement as a core of the new enhanced agreement" between the EU and Ukraine, Ferrero-Waldner said at the end of a EU-Ukraine meeting in Brdo pri Kranju near Ljubljana.

She hoped the global new enhanced agreement could be reached "by the end of 2009."

The EU has included Ukraine in its "neighbourhood policy" of ties with surrounding countries, making it one of the biggest beneficiaries of funding through this program, but has made it clear that this does not imply eventual membership.

Under urging by Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko for closer ties, the EU has promised Kiev a reinforced partnership and a free-trade zone.

Ferrero-Waldner said she told Ukraine's Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko during the meeting that Ukraine has made big progess in the democratization process and "it is very important that we continue on this line."

"We also reminded Ohryzko that there is a need for a political stability based on democracy and the rule of law to allow the country to move forward," Ferrero-Waldner said.

Ohryzko said the seven rounds of negotiations held so far with the EU have been very successful and that Kiev hopes that at the next EU-Ukraine summit, in September in France, "we will be able to finalize some parameters."

"The new enhanced agreement is a very important step in our (EU) accession aspirations," Ohryzko said, adding that his country aimed to join the European Union and NATO.

Sandwiched between Poland and Russia, Ukraine is a key transit route for Russian natural gas to the EU.

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