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Russian, Ukrainian defence ministers discuss cooperation

In his view, “There are many issues, which should be solved”

Photo ITAR-TASS

Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, July 27 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Ukrainian counterpart Pavel Lebedev discussed the state of and prospects for the development of cooperation, the Russian Defence Ministry reported on Saturday.

The ministers of the two countries considered the preparations for a session of the security sub-committee of the Russian-Ukrainian interstate commission and the functioning of the Black Sea Fleet on the territory of the Crimea, the report says.

“The meeting between the defence ministers of both countries was held in a constructive atmosphere,” Russian Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov told reporters.

He said, “The meeting focused on military and military-technical cooperation.” “The parties noted that much work should be done to prepare a session of the security sub-committee of the Russian-Ukrainian interstate commission,” the deputy minister added.

In his view, “There are many issues, which should be solved.”

“I want to stress that the defence ministers of both countries discussed the issues, which should be resolved today, and prospects for building up strategic partnership between the two countries,” Antonov said.

“The normal and effective functioning of the Black Sea Fleet was one of the issues that had been on the agenda of the meeting. There are certain unsolved problems. I’m sure that they can be constructively solved if the parties have political will,” the deputy defence minister said.

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