Ukraine prepares documents for severing Treaty of Friendship with Russia

August 31, 2018 (UNIAN) Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin has announced his ministry has prepared a package of documents to initiate the procedure for severing the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership with the Russian Federation, which was signed in 1997.

"These documents have already been drawn up, and the entire package [is available]. I can say about this now. This has always been our position, that's why we've worked it out. In the coming days, we will introduce it formally," Klimkin told journalists on television. "I always said Russia, firstly, had violated everything in this treaty it could – from the preamble to all articles. Secondly, of course, there is a legal, political side, but there is also an emotional one. Well, what kind of friendship or cooperation are we talking about?" Klimkin wondered.

He added he was going to prove that Russia had violated the treaty from the very beginning of its enactment. "Therefore, the agreement by its definition is out of the question, that's crystal clear. This is our common political position," the minister said. As UNIAN reported, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on August 28 he shortly expected a package of documents from Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the termination of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Ukraine and Russia.

British diplomats dance for Ukrainians on Independence Day

August 26, 2018 (UKRINFORM) The British Embassy in Ukraine has prepared a special video greeting in which diplomats performed a Ukrainian dance to a sopilka on the central streets of the Ukrainian capital. The Embassy published the video on its Facebook page. "The British Embassy and Ambassador Judith Gough congratulate Ukrainians on Independence Day and wish a peaceful and stable next year," the greeting says. According to the diplomatic mission, British diplomats, as well as thousands of Ukrainians, were bewildered a year ago by a dance performed by a British serviceman after a parade on Khreshchatyk street. So this year the embassy staff also decided to dance - a Ukrainian dance. The embassy noted that some diplomats had been engaged in dancing since childhood, while for others it was a personal challenge, but everyone was carefully preparing, rehearsing and dancing for the melody of a sopilka from the song "Bitanga" by young Ukrainian singer Alina Pash. The staff of the diplomatic mission thanked choreographers Varvara Doroshenko and Kyrylo Motinov for arranging the dance and Olena Didyk for the costumes.

The video is available at:

https://www.facebook.com/ukinukraine/videos/228285527855763/

Ukrainians mourn death of a big friend of Ukraine, US Senator John McCain

August 26, 2018 (KyivPost) Ukrainian politicians and activists are mourning the death of United States Senator and presidential candidate John McCain, who died on Aug. 25 at age 81. McCain died in Arizona surrounded by his family. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor in July 2017 and had been undergoing medical treatment, which he stopped on Aug. 24. 

During his political career, McCain repeatedly visited Ukraine and consistently argued that Ukraine’s political and social future lay in Europe. The senator became famous in December 2013 for visiting the then-incipient EuroMaidan Revolution, touring protest camps arranged on Kyiv’s central square. “Ukraine will make Europe better and Europe will make Ukraine better,” McCain said during the visit to thousands of EuroMaidan protesters gathered on Kyiv’s Independence Square. The Kyiv Post interviewed McCain on that trip, along with U.S. Senator Christopher Murphy. Two years later, McCain spent New Year’s Eve 2017 at a forward combat outpost with Ukrainian troops in the village of Shyrokine, near the Azov sea port city of Mariupol. McCain once again supported Ukrainians “in their fight against Putin’s aggression.”

@SenJohnMcCain: Spending NewYearsEve with brave Ukrainian Marines at a forward combat outpost - we stand with them in their fight against Putin's aggression

PresidentPoroshenko – Ukrainian army to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank in exchange for collective security guarantee

August 25, 2018 (Interfax-Ukraine) The Ukrainian army will significantly reinforce NATO’s eastern flank, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said at the military parade on Aug. 24 marking the 27th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence. “You will see here today, and the past four years have proven, that this is one of the best armies on the continent. It will significantly reinforce NATO’s eastern flank. In exchange, we hope to receive collective security guarantees from the Alliance,” Poroshenko said. According to Poroshenko, while Russia seeks “to dismantle the European Union and NATO,” the Ukrainian army is not only defending the security and well-being of Ukraine. “Europe also needs us, because the European Union project will not be complete without us. The modern border of civilized Europe is the northeastern border of Ukraine,” he said.

Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak listens as Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko delivers a speech during a military parade in Kiev on August 24, 2018, to celebrate the the country's 27th year of independence from the Soviet Union. / AFP PHOTO / Genya SAVILOV