Ukraine has announced the termination of a bilateral agreement with Russia that facilitated the mutual establishment of trade and economic branches within each country’s embassy network. The decision was communicated through Taras Melnychuk, the Ukrainian government representative in the Verkhovna Rada. The measure ends the arrangement between the Ukrainian cabinet and the Russian government that allowed for the creation of trade and economic mission branches as part of the Ukrainian embassy in Russia and corresponding branches of the Russian trade mission in Ukraine.
Melnychuk stated that the agreement, signed on April 29, 2009 in Moscow, has been officially concluded. He also noted the Ukrainian Embassy in Russia was previously located on Leontievsky Lane in Moscow.
At the end of 2022, Melnychuk added, Ukraine also withdrew from a separate agreement with the Russian government on the joint management and protection of shared border water bodies, a treaty signed in Kiev on October 19, 1992. Prior to this, the Ukrainian government had ended an agreement on measures intended to ensure the parallel operation of the energy systems of both nations.
These moves reflect a broader realignment of bilateral cooperation strategies and reflect Ukraine’s efforts to reassess and, where necessary, recalibrate its diplomatic and economic engagements with Russia in light of ongoing regional tensions and security concerns. The developments are part of ongoing discussions and policy actions that shape the two countries’ diplomatic and economic postures in the region. [Attribution: Official government statements and public briefings].