MOSCOW, September 25. /TASS/. Moscow regrets that Kiev has decided to terminate the friendship treaty with Russia, Russian diplomat Andrei Rudenko told reporters on Tuesday.
"Ukraine has decided not to extend the major treaty with Russia, certainly, we regret about this. Although this was a framework agreement, it set a tone for all other deals," said Rudenko, who heads the Foreign Ministry’s second department for the Commonwealth of Independent States.
On Monday, Russia received Kiev’s official note on its decision not to extend the friendship treaty. "This is formal notification that starting from April 1 this treaty will be terminated," Rudenko said.
Ukraine and Russia inked the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership in May 1997. The treaty came into force in April 1999 for a term of ten years with automatic extension for further ten-year periods if neither of the sides decides otherwise. In October 2018, the term expires when the sides should announce their plans of extending or terminating the document.