Ukrainian president signs law to end friendship treaty with Russia

Reuters: Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Monday signed the legislation on ending the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership with Russia in Kiev, Ukraine, and instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to redraw the bilateral treaties and legal frameworks with Russia. "The non-extension of the treaty with Russia should be considered not as an episode but as a part of our strategy on our final breaking with the colonial past and reorientation towards Europe," said President Poroshenko. Relations between Kiev and Moscow, which have been deteriorating since early 2014 over Crimea and eastern Ukraine, escalated last month. The original treaty was signed in 1997 and came into effect in 1999, which stipulates that the two countries respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, recognize the Russia-Ukraine boundary demarcated in the Soviet era, agree to settle all disputes through peaceful means and make clear that the bilateral relations are strategic. It had a valid period of ten years, after which it would be automatically renewed if there is no objection from both sides. In 2009, the treaty was automatically renewed and is set to expire on April 1st, 2019.