Ukraine has so far been unable to find a good way to minimize the negative implications of signing an association agreement with the European Union for the national economy, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said.

"If we talk about the work on the free trade agreement [as part of the association agreement with the EU], this will take us some time, and we still have a lot of uncertainties. I'll tell you openly: we have not yet found an answer to how we can minimize negative implications," Yanukovych said in an interview with Ukrainian media on Thursday.

"Surely, we should see how this [free trade area with the EU] will benefit us in the short term, midterm, and long term," he said.