24. Deplores the decision to put on hold the provisional application of the DCFTA until 31 December 2015 due to Russian’s threat to further block bilateral trade with Ukraine; stresses that the European Parliament ratified the Association Agreement on 26 October 2014 and that it should not be changed at the request of Russia, and calls on the Commission to discuss solutions to Russian concerns within the margin allowed by the Agreement as ratified; deplores Russia’s threat to introduce new sanctions against Ukraine if reforms linked to the alignment to the acquis communautaire go ahead; believes that the opportunity to advance economic integration with the Eurasian Economic Community should be weighed carefully, and that
the EU an ...[+++]d the Member States should in no way offer this prospect without Russia first making substantial progress on the Ukrainian crisis;