VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
Diplomatic relations between Russia and Ukraine were established on February 14, 1992.
Bilateral relations are regulated by the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership ("the Big Treaty"), signed on May 31, 1997, and automatically extended on October 1, 2008 for another ten years, and the Programme of Economic Cooperation for 2008-2010. Russia and Ukraine have signed a total of 200 interstate and intergovernmental agreements.
Under the Big Treaty, the two countries pledge to build their relations on the foundation of strategic partnership, to refrain from participating in or supporting any actions that might harm the security of the other party, and not to conclude any agreements directed against the other party with third parties.
On March 5, 2010, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych paid an official visit to Russia. Yanukovych conducted negotiations with Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The negotiations illustrated that the current leadership in Ukraine recognises the importance of constructive relations with Russia and the need for better relations between the two nations after the period of estrangement and distrust provoked by the policies of the previous Ukrainian leadership. Priority areas of cooperation were detailed in a joint statement of the Russian and Ukrainian presidents signed in Moscow. Medvedev and Yanukovych scheduled the third session of the Russian-Ukrainian Interstate Commission headed by the two presidents for mid-May 2010 (the second session was held in Moscow in February 2008).
On April 5, 2010, Yanukovych came to Moscow on a private visit. On April 12, 2010, the Russian president and his Ukrainian counterpart met again during the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington. Dmitry Medvedev, Viktor Yanukovych and Nursultan Nazarbayev held a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit.
The Committee for Economic Cooperation and other bodies of the Russian-Ukrainian Interstate Commission operate under the guidance of the Russian and Ukrainian prime ministers (the fifth session was held on November 19, 2009, in Yalta). The sixth session of the Committee is scheduled for April 22, 2010, in Moscow.
On March 25, 2010, Ukraine's Prime Minister Mykola Azarov paid an official visit to Moscow. Azarov and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed pressing bilateral issues, including cooperation in the gas sector. On April 10, 2010, the Russian and Ukrainian prime ministers met once again in Moscow.
The Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee of Russia's Federal Assembly and Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada held its eighth session on March 18, 2009 in Moscow.
Contacts between Russian and Ukrainian ministries, agencies and parliaments extend beyond the official bodies mentioned above. The two countries are developing inter-regional cooperation as well. On October 6-7, 2009, the heads of Russian and Ukrainian foreign affairs agencies and border regions met in Kharkiv.
