Ukraine's membership of the European Union is the ultimate goal of the incumbent Ukrainian government, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said.

"Our ultimate goal is Ukraine's EU membership. But to achieve this goal we need to go through ordeals; radical changes need to be introduced; Ukraine needs to be changed to be European," Yatseniuk said when opening a government meeting on Tuesday.

He said that European integration is the basic course, pursued by the government.

"This program has undergone clear and concrete changes which must be implemented in line with a concrete timeframe," he said.

The program is based on a coalition agreement, and rests on a foundation of tasks facing the country, Yatseniuk said.

"The new government, jointly with the new parliament, first of all with the Ukrainian people, must fulfill our common European program," the prime minister said.

If Ukraine is to become a member of the European Union it must carry out radical reforms that will win it an invitation from our European partners, he said.