On 19 September on the sidelines of the 72nd session of the UNGA in New York, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin informed his Romanian counterpart Teodor Melescanu about Ukraine’s position on establishing a UN PKO in Ukraine’s Donbas. He stressed that UN peacekeepers have to be deployed throughout the whole area of certain regions of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, including along the temporarily uncontrolled part of the Ukrainian-Russian border. Thus, there can be no international forces stationed exclusively along the contact line, since it would only contribute to “freezing” the conflict, creating another “gray” zone on the European continent and consolidating the Russian influence over it.

On his part, T.Melescanu expressed understanding and full support of the Ukrainian position on this subject. He also underlined the importance of restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders.

The two sides also discussed the issue of the recently adopted Law of Ukraine “On Education”. In particular the Minister of Ukraine emphasized that Ukraine will continue to guarantee cultural and language rights of national minorities. The fact that the law does not in any way limit the possibilities for the study of the Romanian language or of general education subjects in the Romanian language, but merely creates necessary conditions for mastering the Ukrainian language, was specifically brought to the attention of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania Teodor Melescanu. P.Klimkin said, “The new law is about creating additional opportunities for self-realization of members of national minorities, including through acquiring university level education”.

Over the course of the meeting the counterparts agreed on the importance of maintaining active bilateral contacts in this sphere and supported the idea of conducting mutual visits to hold consultations between respective national institutions and bodies.