You're reading: Poroshenko calls for introduction of visa-free regime with EU despite Russia’s actions

Russia's actions in eastern Ukraine should not become an obstacle for the introduction of a visa-free regime between Ukraine and the European Union, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.

“I am confident that Moscow’s actions on the eastern border
considerably complicate this process for us [the introduction of a
visa-free regime]. However, I agree with President Tusk that this
problem should not be an obstacle for a visa-free regime,” he said
opening a plenary session of the Ukraine-EU summit in Kyiv on Monday.

Poroshenko said a decision to grant citizens of Ukraine the right to
visit EU countries without visas should become an important step in
support of Ukraine’s choice in the nearest future.

“I am convinced that Ukrainians as a European nation have a right to
one of the key freedoms on which European integration is based: freedom
of travel and human relations,” Poroshenko said.