The treaty of friendship between Ukraine and Russia comes to an end

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has registered a bill, introduced by President Petro Poroshenko on December 3, "on the termination of the treaty of friendship, cooperation and partnership between l & # 39; Ukraine and the Russian Federation ".

"On the basis of the provisions of Article 60 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, of Article 24 of the Law of Ukraine" on international treaties of the "Ukraine" and in accordance with Article 40 of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine decides to put end of the Treaty of friendship, cooperation and partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation as from 1 April 2019 ", the document states.

The validity of the treaty of friendship, cooperation and partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation frees Ukraine from any obligation to implement it and does not affect the rights, obligations or legal position of Ukraine arising from the implementation of said treaty until its termination. in accordance with Article 70 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

The explanatory memorandum of the bill states that "the continuing aggression of the Russian Federation has resulted in serious violations of most treaty articles, CHNO stresses in the diplomatic correspondence of the Federation from Russia ". It should be noted that a number of significant violations of the Treaty have been prosecuted in international tribunals, which are currently being tried. In addition, the text of the explanatory memorandum indicates that nothing indicates that Russia is really determined to eliminate the offense and to repair the damage caused by its illegal actions.

The treaty of friendship between Ukraine and Russia was signed in 1997 by the then Ukrainian and Russian presidents – Leonid Kuchma and Boris Yeltsin

Promised between Ukraine and Russia:

Reducing the number of Armed Forces and Armaments

On Paper: Committed to reducing the number of armed forces and armaments and to facilitate the disarmament process. As of 1 July 2017, the strength of the Russian Armed Forces has been increased to nearly 2 million people, a number comparable to that of the Russian army in the first few years after 39, collapse of the USSR. Its number then decreased. In 2014, at the beginning of the war in the Donbass and occupation of Crimea, about 800,000 soldiers were officially assigned to the Russian army. In September of this year, Russia conducted the largest military exercises of the last 40 years – "East-2018". Since 1993, Ukraine has reduced the size of its army from 455,000 to 163,000 in 2013. However, after 2014, the country began to increase its defense potential and, in 2017, the number of Ukrainian armies approached 250,000 people.

Grant rights and freedoms to the other party

On paper: Each party guarantees its citizens rights and liberty of another country for the same reasons and for the same amount than its own citizens.

Reality: Russia illegally detains and detains Ukrainian citizens in non-free zones. Among them are 24 Ukrainian prisoners, whom human rights defenders regard as political. Fifty other Ukrainians are under investigation in Russia. On November 25, Russian security forces near the Kerch Strait opened fire on three Ukrainian ships attempting to cross the Black Sea to the Azov Sea. They seized them by force and captured 24 Ukrainian sailors.

Maintaining National Identity

On Paper: The treaty provides that Russia and Ukraine shall guarantee the protection of the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity of minorities in their territory and create the conditions necessary to promote that identity.

Reality: During the occupation of Crimea, the number of Ukrainian language courses in the peninsula was divided by 30. And in the occupied part of the Donbass, controlled by the hybrid forces Russian, after the occupation of Ukrainian language and literature, most courses lasted one hour, one or two weeks. Prior to occupation, more than half of the training was provided in Ukrainian and the average number of hours of work in Ukrainian language and literature was six hours per week

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate is driven from the Crimean Peninsula: there are 9 communities of 40 communities active in Crimea.

Environmental Protection

On paper: The Ukraine and Russia have agreed to cooperate for the protection of the environment, the protection of the environment , the protection of the environment and the protection of the environment. pollution prevention and assistance to eliminate the consequences of emergencies of a natural or man-made nature.

Fact: According to environmentalists, serious losses were observed during the war against Donbass in the region. . Of the 8 protected areas of the ATO-OS area are partially or completely damaged due to military conflict. For example, in the "Cretaceous Flora" reserve, local specialists have counted 503 craters from 1,200-hectare shells.

The DNR group, controlled by Russia, stopped pumping water from the "Yunkom" mine, where an underground nuclear explosion took place in 1979. Activists say they did so in agreement with Russian specialists from the research institute "Shaktoproekt" of St. Petersburg: the institute concluded that it was safe. In fact, according to Ukrainian hydrogeologists, the basins of Seversky Donets and Kalmius as well as the Sea of ​​Azov will be threatened by radiation contamination. This could affect not only the Donbass regions, but also the regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporozhye and Kharkiv.

Respecting Territorial Integrity

On Paper: Under the treaty, the parties committed to respect the territorial integrity of each other and to uphold the territorial integrity of the territory. inviolability of borders.

] Reality: On February 20, 2014, Russia began the occupation of Crimea and on March 18, after the so-called "referendum", "joined" the peninsula. Two soldiers were victims of the seizure of the peninsula. In April 2014, armed groups supported by Russia began seizing power in Donbass territory, resulting in the loss of part of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts out of Kiev. During the summer of 2014, the Ukrainian territory was subjected to massive bombing from the Russian territory by reactive salt fire "Grad". Units of the Russian army entered Ukrainian territory and attacked Ukrainian forces near Ilovajsky. International investigators have identified the names and personal data of 2,400 Russian soldiers who fought in Donbas.

According to the agreement of friendship, cooperation and partnership between Ukraine and Russia, the principle of strategic partnership has been established, recognizing the inviolability of existing borders , Respect for Territorial Integrity and Mutual Engagement "Do not use their territory to the detriment of everyone's security."

(Video of the moment when Russia's ship deliberately sinks a Ukrainian ship in the Kerch Strait)

on friendship, cooperation and partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation was concluded for a period of ten years – in 2008, its action was automatically extended. To end the treaty, Ukraine must formally notify Russia no later than six months before the end of the next ten-year period, ie until October 2018. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Ukraine did it in September [19659028] The Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Irina Gerashchenko said in September that Ukraine did not plan to end a friendship treaty with Russia, but to refuse to extend his action. According to Gerachchenko, the difference between these two concepts is important, since the termination of the treaty of friendship would unilaterally release Russia from any responsibility for failure to fulfill its obligations. She added that the formal cancellation of the treaty at the initiative of Ukraine could be beneficial for Moscow.

On September 17, President Petro Poroshenko issued a decree imposing the NSDC's decision to end the treaty "On friendship, cooperation and partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation" . [19659003] On September 21, Ukraine officially informed Russia of the abrogation of the treaty of friendship. The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said that this event was very important because the note corroborates all violations by Russia of the provisions of this treaty.

On September 26, Petro Poroshenko handed over to the UN Secretary-General, Antoni Guterish, a note on Ukraine's decision not to extend the treaty of friendship with Russia [19659031]. In the Kremlin, in response to this initiative, they said in September that the bilateral relations between Ukraine and Russia were in a situation "that it will be difficult to ruin something". This was said in September by the President of the Russian President Dmytro Peskov . At the same time, he said, "even under the conditions of this deep crisis, it would be foolish to take measures that would cause further harm to the peoples of both countries".

The confrontation between Russia and Ukraine intensified on November 25 – Russian border guards opened fire in the Kerch Strait on three Ukrainian ships and seized them. Kremlin-occupied Crimea courts "arrested" 24 sailors for two months. Now the captured Ukrainian navy is in detention centers in Moscow. The Ukrainian authorities recognize their prisoners of war.

On November 26, the Verkhovna Rada voted the establishment of a military state for 30 days in the internal waters of the region of Azov-Kerch waters and in 10 oblasts adjacent to the border with Russia, as well as with the occupied territories. the territories controlled by Ukraine and Moldova. These are Vinnitsa, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhia, Nikolaev, Odessa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Kherson.

Lyudmila Vannek was published in the publication of the material of Radio Liberty