The two presidents underscored the importance of yesterday’s package deal whereby uninterrupted transits of Russia’s natural gas to Europe through Ukrainian territory will continue after January 1, 2020. They noted the constructive nature of talks on these matters, which creates a favourable backdrop for resolving other bilateral problems.
They spoke positively of the December 29 exchange of detained persons between Kiev and Donbass under the “all identified for all identified” prisoners principle. It was noted that this was done in keeping with the agreements of the December 9 Normandy Four summit held in Paris and helped to strengthen mutual trust. They also stressed the need for the parties to the internal conflict in Ukraine to make consistent steps toward implementing the Minsk Package of Measures.
The Presidents exchanged New Year greetings and spoke in favour of developing Russian-Ukrainian relations in 2020.