Ukraine lodges formal protest against Putin decree on trade in eastern Ukraine

KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s foreign ministry on Tuesday said a Russian presidential decree on trade with separatist-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine was a “gross interference in the internal affairs of Ukraine”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered the government to lift curbs on exports and imports of goods between Russia and parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions, controlled by the separatists.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry said the decree violated Russia’s commitments under the Minsk ceasefire deal, adding that it had sent a note of protest to the Russian foreign ministry.

(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; editing by Matthias Williams)