On Wednesday, 25 March, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha informed that, at the initiative of the MFA, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine terminated 116 international treaties of Ukraine concluded in the past between the Government of Ukraine and the governments of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, as well as within the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

“Today, Ukraine has taken another massive step on this path. We are severing the last ties with the so-called ‘CIS’. It is my firm conviction that Ukraine’s legal and treaty framework must correspond to the realities of the war and the new security architecture on the European continent. To achieve this, it is necessary to break the last legal links that once connected us with the RF, Belarus, and the so-called ‘CIS’. This is a complex and multifaceted legal process that requires consistent processing, and we are systematically carrying out this work,” the Minister emphasized.

The Head of the MFA noted that through this resolution, Ukraine terminates 25, denounces 3, and withdraws from 88 international treaties. Among them are 5 with the RF, 23 with the RB, 87 within the CIS framework, and one trilateral treaty between Ukraine, the RF, and the RB.

“Taking into account the recent Presidential decrees of 25 February on withdrawal from 31 international treaties within the CIS, as well as 14 draft laws registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine providing for the termination of 74 international treaties, we are effectively concluding the main stage of bringing the legal and regulatory framework of Ukraine’s bilateral and multilateral relations with the RF, RB, and within the CIS in line with the realities of the war and Ukraine’s decisive place in Europe’s new security architecture,” he remarked.

Andrii Sybiha underlined that Ukraine’s border is the border of international law, freedom, and European civilization. According to the Foreign Minister, this approach must also be reflected in Ukraine's international legal and treaty framework.

“It is my principled position as Minister to get rid of everything that could weaken Ukraine, to cut off everything that once connected us with the aggressor state, and to build a serious, strategic, and long-term line of defense for the free world on Ukraine’s eastern border, or preferably even further beyond it,” he stated.

The Minister thanked First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and government colleagues for their support, as well as the MFA team that prepared and implemented these important and systemic decisions.