Ukraine’s president signs decree on termination of friendship treaty with Russia

Petro Poroshenko has signed a decree on the termination of the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership between Ukraine and Russia, the Ukrainian president’s website confirmed on Monday. In accordance with a decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on September 6, 2018, the Foreign Ministry’s offer concerning the termination of the treaty, which was signed on May 31, 1997, “has been approved,” the statement said. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavel Klimkin said on Monday that Kiev “will revise” all of its agreements with Russia. “It is an absolute fact that the legal framework for our relations with Russia will be gradually revised,” he told reporters. Russia remains Ukraine’s main trade partner despite rocky relations between the two countries, TASS said. Mutual trade turnover with Russia grew by 28.6 percent in 2017, reaching around $12 billion, according to Ukraine’s state statistics service.