Ukraine will definitely have a prospect of becoming a full member of the EU when it is ready for this, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said.

"You may not believe me but the prospect of [the EU] membership [for Ukraine] will come much earlier than any of you might believe," Klimkin said at the Atlantic Council in Washington on July 29.

He pointed out that some European politicians suggested earlier that, if former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych did not sign an association agreement with the EU, the next such opportunity might arise not earlier than 2016.

Klimkin said he has always dreamed of seeing Ukraine as an EU member. He insisted, however, that it is more important for Ukraine now not to seek the formal recognition of EU membership prospects but to ensure Ukraine's readiness for this.

Ukraine will have membership prospects in the process of implementing the association agreement, Klimkin said. "And they will come sooner rather than later," he said.

The association agreement with the EU is chiefly a framework agreement for conducting reforms and amending national laws, Klimkin said.