During his working visit to Germany, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak discussed the security and humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine with the Federal Minister of Defence Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.
The meeting was also attended by Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Ihor Zhovkva, Deputy Prime Minister - Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Oleksiy Reznikov, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and Minister of Defense Andriy Taran.
Andriy Yermak stressed that in order to accelerate progress towards peace, it is necessary, first of all, to ensure the implementation of the agreements reached by the leaders of the Normandy format countries at the December summit in Paris, in particular to ensure full and comprehensive implementation of the ceasefire.
"The cessation of shelling is a basic condition for further disengagement of forces and demining," the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine said.
He stressed that observers from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission should have full freedom of movement, which has recently been blocked by illegal armed groups.
In addition, the parties discussed opportunities for deepening cooperation between Ukraine and NATO, as well as issues of bilateral cooperation.
The German Minister of Defence noted that Ukraine is a friend of Germany. Berlin supports our country on the path to peace and does not recognize the occupation of Ukrainian territories - Donbas and Crimea, as it is a flagrant violation of international law.
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer stressed that the normalization of relations with Russia is possible only after the restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity.
Germany also supports Ukraine's initiative to intensify the Minsk negotiation process and looks forward to continuing negotiations in the Normandy format.
The German Minister of Defence noted that Germany is ready to continue assisting in the implementation of reforms in Ukraine.
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer accepted the invitation of her Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Taran to visit Ukraine.