Ukraine 'ready to pay price' for EU trade after Russian move

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko speaks during a news conference with European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in Kiev, Ukraine, November 9, 2015. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Wednesday that he regretted Russia ending preferential trade with Ukraine on Wednesday in retaliation for Kiev's free-trade pact with the EU but said he was "ready to pay the price" and that the accord with the Western bloc would be fully implemented on Jan. 1.

"Ukraine is aware of these restrictions and the expected damage the Ukrainian economy," he said in Brussels following the announcement from Moscow that it would suspend its trade deal with Kiev on Jan. 1. "But we are ready to pay this price for our freedom and our European choice."

Poroshenko was arriving for a meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who also stressed that Russian pressure would not prevent implementation of the EU-Ukraine accord.

(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)