Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland has said Canada is proud of the opportunity to support Ukraine and sees great opportunities for developing bilateral relations.

"In Canada, we see our relations with Ukraine not as a political attitude of any party, but as a relationship of our country to your country. We are pleased to see the successes of Ukraine and we are proud that we can support Ukraine," she said during a meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman in London on Thursday.

She said she sees significant prospects for the development of bilateral cooperation, in particular, in the economy.

The premier of Ukraine thanked Canada for its support.

As it was reported, the agreement on free trade between Ukraine and Canada would start operating on August 1, 2017.

According to the Embassy of Ukraine in Canada, starting from August 1 the document will cancel 98% of tariffs for Ukrainian goods exported to Canada, for Canadian goods 72% of tariffs will be immediately canceled, and within seven years duty-free exports will grow to 98%. In addition, the public procurement markets mutually open. Separate sections of the agreement protect e-commerce and intellectual property.

The agreement was signed in Kyiv on July 11, 2016. The Verkhovna Rada ratified it on March 14, 2017. President Petro Poroshenko signed the law on ratification on April 3, 2017.