You're reading: Jagland calls situation in Donbas and Crimea a ‘tragedy’

 Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has informed Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland about the situation in the Donbas and said there was evidence of the involvement of Russian troops in the fighting.

 “All of this is a sign of a direct military aggression,” the presidential press service quoted him as saying at a meeting with Jagland in Kyiv on Sept. 2.

Poroshenko stressed the critical importance of the Council of Europe’s position in condemning Russian aggression and drew Jagland’s attention to numerous cases of evidence of torture used with respect to detained civilians and captured servicemen.

He said that there was a problem with Ukrainians captured on Ukrainian territory and subsequently sent to Russian prisons.

He called on Jagland do everything possible to release Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko.

Poroshenko also stressed the importance of coordinating actions with the Council of Europe to resolve the difficult situation in Ukraine. In particular, he called on the Council of Europe to join the humanitarian aid to the occupied territories, as well as internally displaced persons.

Jagland, in turn, described what is happening now in Donetsk and Luhansk regions and in Crimea as a “tragedy” and expressed his full solidarity with the Ukrainian people.

“It is also a tragedy for European institutions, which, in fact, were founded just after the Second World War in order to prevent a war in Europe. For us it is a big challenge how to deal with this situation,” he said.

Jagland stressed the importance of addressing humanitarian problems in Donetsk and Luhansk regions and in Crimea and stated his intention to discuss how Council of Europe instruments could be used to assist Ukraine in the current situation, in particular, in the issue of observing human rights, as well as in the economic sphere.

He also noted that the Council of Europe supports Ukraine on the toad to structural reforms, which started to be implemented, despite the current difficult situation in the country.