Ukrainian President calls on the West to boycott the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia
In an interview with the German news agency Funke Mediengruppe, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called on western countries to toughen the sanctions against the Russian Federation and boycott the FIFA World Cup which will take place in Russia on July 14, 2018, DW reports.
Poroshenko said he counted on the support of the new German Government. "I expect that all the coalition partners in Germany will stand for the freedom, democracy and territorial integrity of Ukraine," he said.
Poroshenko also expressed hope that Berlin would assist in sending a United Nations peacekeeping mission to the east of Ukraine; having noted that it would be the only way to really implement the Minsk agreements.
According to Poroshenko, unless those agreements are implemented, sanctions against Russia cannot be lifted.
The President also said that Moscow was trying to bring Ukraine to its knees, but the country managed to stand firm thanks to the support from Europe. Speaking of weapon supplies to Ukraine, Poroshenko said Kyiv expected them from the United States first, and then from Canada, France and Lithuania.
"Weapons deals do not like any public discussions, thus I won't say anything about possible agreements with Germany," added the President of Ukraine.
As earlier reported, the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affair, Pavlo Klimkin, has called for depriving Russia of the opportunity to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup.