Brussels – European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso talked with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko by telephone on Aug. 18 and Aug. 19, the European Commission's press service reported.
Barroso informed the Ukrainian president that in response to an invitation from Russia and Ukraine to participate in a Customs Union – Ukraine summit in Minsk on Aug. 26, he had made the decision to ask the European Union’s foreign policy chief and European Commission Vice President Catherine Ashton, EU Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht and European Commission Vice President Gunther Oettinger to take part in the meeting, the European Commission said in a communique released in Brussels on Aug. 19.
On his own behalf and on behalf of European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, Barroso invited Poroshenko to visit Brussels soon.
Barroso expressed concern about the security situation and condemned the shelling of a convoy of displaced persons, the communique says.
He said that civilians must be protected and that military operations near the border and the flow of weapons and personnel from Russia into Ukraine must be stopped, the European Commission said.
