Minsk Forum on Ukraine

Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Günther Oettinger, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Energy, and Karel De Gucht, member of the European Commission responsible for Trade, traveled to Minsk, Belarus, where they held a joint press conference and participated in a Forum between the Eurasian Customs Union, the EU and Ukraine. The crisis in eastern Ukraine dominated the agenda and Petro Poroshenko, President of Ukraine, called on the Forum to accept his peace plan for the country. The meeting focused on two areas: the economic aspects of discussions between the various nations, particularly between Russia, Ukraine and the role of the EU, and issues of peace and security.