Pavlo Klimkin

 Turkey handed over the six-month rotating presidency of the Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) to Ukraine on Thursday, Anadolu Agency reported.

Following the 36th BSEC Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Istanbul, Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmet Yildiz made the handover to Ukraine.

Ivica Dacic has called on all signatories of the agreement from Minsk to respect what they signed and work on the implementation of the agreement.

Dacic, who is Serbia's foreign minister and OSCE's chairperson in office, made the comments in Kiev on Friday after his meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and OSCE officials.

Ivica Dacic talked on Friday over the phone with his Russian and Ukranian counterparts Sergei Lavrov and Pavlo Klimkin about the situation in Ukraine.

Dacic is Serbia's foreign minister who also serves as OSCE chairperson-in-office.

UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has stated Thursday that sanctions against Russia can only be lifted in case the Minsk agreement is upheld.

He arrived in Kiev for an official visit and met with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, President Petro Poroshenko, and PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

The foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany met in the so-called "Normandy format" on Tuesday, calling for the reinforcement of the OSCE monitoring mission to Ukraine.

The foreign ministers also called for respect of the ceasefire agreement, that had been agreed by the leaders of the Normandy group earlier in February in Minsk, EurActiv reports.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias will visit Kiev on Thursday for a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Pavlo Klimkin, the ministry has said in a statement.

Kotzias will be briefed by Ukraine's national security council before meeting with representatives of the ethnic Greek community and business associations.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin is to arrive on an official visit to Bulgaria on Monday at the invitation of his Bulgarian counterpart Daniel Mitov.

Mitov and Klimkin are to discuss the latest developments in Ukraine, including the conditions of Bulgarians residing in the country and the efforts of the international community to deescalate the conflict.

The Bulgarian government is set on discussing the tensions regarding Ukrainian minorities, including the increased army mobilization of Bulgarian nationals with Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Pavlo Klimkin during his upcoming visit.

The position has also been expressed before the Ukrainian Ambassador to Sofia Mykola Baltazhy, a press release from Tuesday revealed.

FM travels to France, then to Russia and Ukraine

BELGRADE -- First Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic will begin his visit to France on Thursday, and then travel to the Russian Federation and Ukraine.

BELGRADE- First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia Ivica Dacic will begin a visit to France on Thursday, and then travel to the Russian Federation and Ukraine.