Arseniy Yatsenyuk: The Government of Ukraine believes that during the G7 summit the Ukrainian issue will be among major topics

"We hope that at the G7 summit the Ukrainian issue will be among major topics," stressed Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk on Friday, May 29, at a press conference following the meeting with Foreign Minister of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is in Kyiv on a working visit.

The Prime Minister of Ukraine assessed the importance of the visit to Ukraine by Frank-Walter Steinmeier on the eve of the G7 summit, due in Germany in early June.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk emphasized the visit of Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany to Ukraine "is the proof that the European Union and Germany, as one of the key European Union countries, continue supporting Ukraine".

"Together we must ensure security in Ukraine and in Europe as a whole," he said.

The Prime Minister stressed that the Russian aggression against Ukraine had undermined the basics of international law: "Given that the only deal signed by Russia today is the Minsk agreement, we still insist on Russia to abide by this deal."

At the same time, Arseniy Yatsenyuk highlighted that the situation still remains extremely difficult and basic criteria of the Minsk accord aren’t implemented, "namely, to withdraw heavy weapons, to stop supplying weapons by the Russian side and restore control over the border".

Regarding the implementation of the Minsk agreement, the PM noted that since the ceasefire had been announced, 80 Ukrainian soldiers had died, 400 had been wounded: "Russia continues to supply tanks, heavy weapons are deployed directly in the conflict zone, what violates the Minsk agreements. Not to mention the fact that Russia flatly refuses to allow Ukraine regain control over the state abroad".

"Just suppose that in Germany 1.2 million people move from Munich to Berlin, while in Munich all the factories close, neither taxes nor salaries are paid there. And we have 1.2 million people who fled from Donetsk and Luhansk, and they are registered as internally displaced persons who need pensions and social benefits to be paid. So, we pay them," said the Head of Government of Ukraine.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk noted that Ukraine had lost 65 mines out of 90, "as they came under the control of Russian terrorists, we have lost 20% of the economy."

He underlined that Ukraine suffers losses worth 5 to 7 million US dollars per day of hostilities, "but none gives us money to cover our military expenses".