Key Ukraine-Russia friendship treaty expires

KIEV, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Ukraine and Russia expired on Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin tweeted.

Under the Agreement, which was signed in 1997 and took effect on April 1, 1999, Kiev and Moscow pledged to respect each other's borders and to peacefully settle disputes.

The Agreement includes a clause to automatically extend the treaty every 10 years if neither party moves to end it.

Ukraine officially notified Russia of its intention to withdraw from the friendship treaty last September.

Three months later, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a law to terminate the Agreement, saying that it is "a part of the Ukrainian strategy of reorientation towards Europe."