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Ukraine cancels military exports deal with Russia

The deal was approved by the Ukrainian government in 2004, and had been based on an agreement on military and technical cooperation dated May 26, 1993

KIEV, August 9. /TASS/. The Ukrainian government has cancelled an inter-governmental agreement with Russia on the procedure of interaction in the export of military goods (products) to third countries. The relevant decision was adopted at a government session on Wednesday.

The agreement was approved by the Ukrainian government on March 24, 2004 and had been worked out by Ukraine and Russia on the basis of an agreement between the governments of both countries on military and technical cooperation dated May 26, 1993. In this document, the sides undertook to maintain and develop cooperative ties in the development and manufacture of military products, carry out their mutual deliveries and provide military services.

The agreement on military and technical cooperation prohibits the sale or transfer of military products or information thereof to a third party, including foreign private individuals, legal entities or international organizations, without the preliminary consent of the products’ original owner.

The aim of the new agreement was to establish interaction between the parties in the export of military goods to third countries. This document covered military goods jointly developed or modernized after January 1, 1992.

Ukraine has suspended the shipments of military goods to Russia since late March 2014 and on June 16 that year Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko fully prohibited cooperation with Russia in the defense sector.

On August 27, 2014, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council instructed the government to take measures to reduce the export of military and dual-purpose goods to Russia, except for space hardware used for research and space exploration for peaceful purposes as part of international space projects.