Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine at the head of a high-level delegation paid on May 20 an official visit to Germany at the invitation of Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel. The sides focused on further progress in the Minsk process in order to put it back on a right track and prosper in the Normandy format.
In the course of today’s meeting they elaborated in detail on the humanitarian aspect, having stressed the need to re-open the checkpoint ‘Zolote’, previously closed owing to the position of the so-called DPR and LPR, and Russia. The Ukrainian party made a special brief to the other side about liberation of the hostages, setting exact dates of the release, making the final lists of prisoners. Prompt release of 128 Ukrainians illegally seized by the DPR/LPR’ militants was also pushed upon.
Special attention the parties paid to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission activities, which ought to cover the whole territory of Donbas in order to register all the violations.The Ukrainian delegates informed their German counterparts about the informal group ‘Minsk Platform’ aimed at elaborating of effective legal initiatives capable of bringing peace in Ukraine. The President of Ukraine and the German Chancellor vigorously condemned the decision of Russia to recognize fake documents of the so-called DPR and LPR, actual spreading of the ruble zone and "confiscation" of the Ukrainian public and private assets in the occupied territories.
Angela Merkel gave assurances to Ukraine about the unwavering support in implementation of the Minsk accords and doing her best to hold a Normandy format meeting in the nearest future.
The parties also
discussed at the meeting the preparations to G7 Summit to be held in Sicily. The
Chancellor of Germany reasserted that Ukraine would surely be in the G7’s
agenda. Ukrainian delegation expressed
sincere thanks to Angela Merkel for her personal assistance in gaining the
visa-free regime for Ukraine.
After the talks came to their end, the parties paid visit to Oranienburg to honour the memory of those who lost their lives in Sachsenhausen concentration camp.
The President’s visit constituted an essential element of development of Ukrainian-German relations, having attested personal positive mood of the Chancellor in ensuring the Normandy format to be functional.