Ukraine’s MPs uphold president’s decision to break Friendship Treaty with Russia

Ukraine’s Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, upheld President Petro Poroshenko’s decision to terminate the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership with Russia on Thursday. As many as 277 lawmakers voted for a bill on the treaty’s termination submitted by the president, while 226 votes were needed to pass the bill, TASS reports. The treaty between Ukraine and Russia will be terminated on April 1, 2019, according to the bill. The decision will enter into force on the day following its publication. On September 17, Poroshenko signed a decree enforcing the Ukrainian Security Service’s decision to terminate the treaty on friendship. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry notified Moscow about the move on September 24.