Presidential decree ending 'friendship' with Russia comes into force

A respective decree by the head of state was published in the government's Uriadovy Kurier newspaper on September 19.

As reported, President Petro Poroshenko on September 17 enacted the NSDC decision of September 6 to terminate the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Ukraine and Russia.

It is envisaged that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry should inform Russia about the termination of the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Ukraine and Russia, which was signed on May 31, 1997.

The Foreign Ministry should also inform the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and other international organizations about Ukraine's desire to terminate the effect of the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Ukraine and Russia and grounds for its termination.

The Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Ukraine and Russia was signed in Kyiv on May 31, 1997. Under the terms of the document, the parties undertook to "respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty" of the two countries and "confirmed the inviolability of the existing borders between them."

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