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What did Kyiv's treaty decision mean for Moscow?
Summary
A look back at 27 September 2018, when the end of a bilateral treaty and a poisoning in occupied Makiivka shared the news agenda.
What was the state of Russian–Ukrainian relations on 27 September 2018? Two days earlier, on 25 September 2018, Russia had acknowledged that it had been notified of Ukraine's decision not to renew the Russian–Ukrainian Friendship Treaty.
The agreement, also known as the "Big Treaty", was signed in 1997. It fixed the principle of strategic partnership, recognised the inviolability of existing borders and respect for territorial integrity, and committed both sides not to use their territory to harm each other's security. According to later accounts, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko had signed a decree not to extend the treaty on 19 September 2018. The treaty then expired on 31 March 2019.
A separate story from Makiivka
On 27 September 2018 came a different kind of report, from the occupied city of Makiivka. More than 110 people were reported to have been affected by water poisoning there.
The two items were unrelated in subject. One concerned a formal diplomatic step between two states; the other concerned the health of residents in an occupied city. Together they show the range of news from Ukraine and its neighbourhood at the end of September 2018.
