Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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581. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if the situation in Ukraine continues to feature in discussions at European Union level, with particular reference to the need to maximise efforts for a lasting ceasefire and peace; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9574/16]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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Ukraine, and in particular resolution of the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, remains a priority for the European Union. Discussion of the situation in Ukraine has featured on the agenda of the Foreign Affairs Council in January, March and April this year, either as a stand-alone item, or in broader discussions around the European Union’s relationship with Russia and the Eastern Partnership. On 23 May, there will be an Eastern Partnership Meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in Brussels, in which Ukraine will participate.

The European Union is committed to assisting Ukraine deliver its ambitious and wide-ranging programme of reform and has provided unprecedented levels of support. This assistance includes loans, budget support, humanitarian assistance, technical assistance and trade preferences, granted under the framework for the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, which entered into provisional application from 1 January 2016. The 18th EU-Ukraine Summit will take place in September and will assess implementation of the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine and the progress of political and economic reforms in Ukraine.

As regards the conflict in eastern Ukraine, despite progress in some areas, key elements of the Minsk agreements remain to be implemented. Agreement on a number of issues, including the modalities for the holding of local elections in separatist-held parts of eastern Ukraine, as called for in the Minsk “Package of Measures” has yet to be achieved. The European Union continues to support diplomatic efforts to secure full implementation of the Minsk Agreements within the OSCE Trilateral Contact Group (OSCE, Russia and Ukraine) and its four working groups and the Normandy Format (France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine) meetings of Heads of State and Governments and Foreign Ministers. Normandy Format Foreign Ministers met on 11 May in Berlin and agreed concrete measures to improve the security situation and safeguard the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine.

The Minsk agreements offer the only basis for a stable and lasting political resolution to the conflict in Ukraine and the European Union will continue to support and facilitate their full implementation as a matter of urgency.