The EU will announce a pledge of 110 million euros (about 154 million U.S. dollars) to improve safety work at the Chernobyl site, said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Monday.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych (R) meets with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in Kiev, capital of Ukraine, April 18, 2011. Barroso said on Monday that the European Commission will allocate an extra 157 million U.S. dollars for the building of a new shelter over the site of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor which blew up in 1986. (Xinhua/Mykhailo Markiv)

Barroso is in Kiev to attend a donors conference that will start on Tuesday to raise funds for reconstruction of a concrete sarcophagus shielding the nuclear reactor that exploded in 1986.

The EU has launched nuclear safety tests for plants on its territory, said Barroso. "We expect our international partners to do the same. This is clearly a global issue that needs a global response. Nuclear issues do not respect borders," he said.

Barroso and Yanukovich also exchanged views on the development of bilateral relations, including negotiations on the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, implementation of the Visa Action Plan and the wider reform agenda.

Last November, on the EU-Ukraine summit in Brussels, Yanukovich expressed his willingness to carry out necessary reforms in line with EU standards and speed up negotiations on the Association Agreement. He recently stated that an EU integration strategy was a key element of his political approach.

According to Barroso, both sides confirmed determination to conclude negotiations within the year.

Barroso said it is key that the treaty contains a meaningful energy chapter and the elimination of all export duties. The EC president believed the treaty, and the increased trade and modernization that it will bring, will deliver important benefits to citizens in Ukraine and the EU.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet