TOKYO: Ukraine has submitted its request to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to the trade pact's depositary country New Zealand, Japan's economy minister Shigeyuki Goto said on Friday.

The CPTPP includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, with the United Kingdom becoming the 12th member state. 

Japan, as a CPTPP member, "must carefully assess whether Ukraine fully meets the high level of the agreement" in terms of market access and rules, Goto told a regular press conference.