Vice-Chair of the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade Pawel Zalewski has said that Ukraine, by creating a free trade area with the European Union, is implementing the idea of Russian President Vladimir Putin on a common economic space from Lisbon to Luhansk, not to Vladivostok.

Zalewski said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine he regretted that "this good idea," after it was announced by the Russian president in November 2010, did not move from words to deeds.

"I'm very much in favor of having Russia included in this common economic space, even in a common economic market… Ukraine, because it will have an agreement with EU, being a member of the common economic zone of the EU, will be part of it. What about Russia? Why does the Kremlin want to exclude Russians from the center of economical world? This is a question," he said.

"It is the Kremlin that does not want to develop this common European zone, which, after the implementation of the Association Agreement with Ukraine, will stretch from Lisbon to Luhansk, and it is the Kremlin that does not want to develop it from Luhansk to Vladivostok. It is Ukraine that wants to have a common European market from Lisbon to Luhansk," Zalewski added.

According to the European politician, after the idea was voiced by the Russian president the EU has not received any offers from Moscow.

"I try to treat Mr. Putin seriously, and I don't want to see his words as only part of the game. So at that time I reacted very positively, but, unfortunately, since that time we have not seen any kind of concrete proposal," Zalewski said.

He said that after Russia joined the WTO, Brussels and Moscow began negotiations on a new agreement on partnership and cooperation.

"As a matter of fact, [Russia] is blocking further negotiations on a new partnership and cooperation agreement and developing its own project as opposed to European standards. So understanding that, I cannot treat this opinion seriously. It means it's not serious, these are only words, but the facts showed something different. So today there is no sign that Mr. Putin thinks seriously about this common economic zone and it's a pity not only for him but also for Russians," Zalewski said.

The MEP also noted that the EU market, which includes 28 countries, is based on common standards, rules and policies.

"So if Putin wants to have a common economic space and, as far as I understand, a common market, he has to do what Ukrainians want to do. He must accept the standards imposed by the EU. The problem is that these thoughts of Mr. Putin are irrelevant to reality, because he, unlike Ukrainians and the Ukrainian government, does not want to accept these standards. He contrarily wants to create his own standards, the standards of the Custom Union and the Eurasian Union," the politician said.