Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius has said that France is interested in the signing of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine.

Butkevicius said that his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault assured him about this during a meeting in Paris, according to the Baltic News Service.

According to the Lithuanian PM, while in Paris he was told that France expects the issue of imprisonment of ex-Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to be resolved, but did not name her release as a key condition.

"France would also be interested in the signature of the Association Agreement, but, of course, French Prime Minister underlined that all requirements set in both Prague and Warsaw should be met, so we should look at this issue systematically," Butkevicius told BNS.

As reported, Lithuania will be in chair for the EU starting from the second half of 2013, as well as host the Eastern Partnership Summit in November 2013.