In his words, the Brussels document is "a technical but very important step."
Linkevičius says that the European Commission also plans provisional application of a major part of the free trade agreement, and it would come into force immediately after the signature without waiting for ratification.
"The EU side is moving technically and legally on schedule. The whole success will depend on Ukraine's progress. If Ukraine is ready, the EU will also be ready," the minister told BNS on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, the European Commission adopted a recommendation for an Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine to be signed during the forthcoming EU Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius in November. The Commission stressed, however, that Kiev is expected to carry out reforms until then.
The EU wants Ukraine to prevent "selective justice", a term used to describe the legal persecution of ex-Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
"We have time until the fall. An intensive dialogue will most probably carry on all the way until autumn," Linkevičius said on Wednesday.
France expects action on Tymoshenko
Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius says he has been assured by his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault on Wednesday that France is interested in the Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine being signed in November.
According to the prime minister, he was told during a meeting in Paris that France expected the issue of incarceration of ex-Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to be resolved but that her release was not a key condition.
"France would also be interested in the signature of the Association Agreement, but, of course, the prime minister underlined that all requirements set in both Prague and Warsaw should be met, so we should look at this issue systematically. Existing requirements to resolve the issue of the release of politicians who are now still arrested were also highlighted. She (Tymoshenko) was also mentioned but there was no strong statement that she should be released as soon as possible. But it was said that the Tymoshenko issue should be also resolved," Butkevičius told BNS after the meeting on Wednesday.
The EU Eastern Partnership summit will take place in Vilnius in late November as Lithuania will hold the rotating EU Council presidency.
