Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has welcomed the removal of the political element from international trade with natural gas.

"The unity of the EU is also necessary in the energy issue, for Ukraine is not the only country which takes the risk from the political component of cooperation with Gazprom. We are in the same boat as Slovakia. The only thing we are interested in is to eliminate the political component. Gas must be an ordinary commodity," Poroshenko said at a joint press conference with President of Slovakia Andrej Kiska in Kyiv on Wednesday, adding that Ukraine had almost removed the political element in the winter, that the country is achieving this step at the moment, and is coordinating its steps with partners from the EU, in particular Slovakia.