Defence Minister of Finland: Freezing of conflict in eastern Ukraine must be avoided

Minister of Defence of Finland, Jussi Niinistö said this at the meeting with Ukrainian Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak during the UN Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial conference in Vancouver, the Ministry’s press service reports on Thursday.

"We must do everything necessary to avoid freezing of the conflict in this region. A possible option for peace observance is the Minsk agreements, which all the parties to the conflict must adhere to and refrain from aggression against civilians. In turn, we are ready for cooperation with Ukraine, exchange of experience. We will discuss these issues in detail during the meeting in Helsinki early next year," Niinistö said.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak informed his Finnish colleague about the situation in eastern Ukraine and the principles to underlie the effective deployment of the peacekeeping mission.

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