Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk met with Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland

The Prime Minister of Ukraine highly appreciated the principled position of the Council of Europe condemning the illegal annexation of Crimea and the Russian aggression in the eastern Ukraine. Arseniy Yatsenyuk appealed to Thorbjørn Jagland and urged to use the whole potential of the Council of Europe to make Russia meet its international commitments, in particular to release illegally detained Ukrainian prisoners and hostages.

Apart from that, Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Secretary General of the Council of Europe discussed priority ways to support reforms in Ukraine. In particular, it concerned cooperation with the Venice Commission to complete a judicial reform as well as the support of legal mechanisms to protect human rights.

Prime Minister of Ukraine expressed concern over gross and systematic violations of human rights in Crimea by the Russian occupation administration, including persecution of Crimean Tatars, and urged the Council of Europe to make every effort to overcome the problems.