Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov intends to cut short his visit to Canada and return to Ukraine in connection with a deadly shootout in the village of Kniazhychi outside Kyiv.

The Ukrainian interior minister said the arranged meetings in Canada are very important in terms of the partnership program with the government of Canada to support Ukraine's security sector in 2017, the Interior Ministry's communication department reported on Monday.

"However, after meetings with Minister of International Trade of Canada Chrystia Freeland and Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale, I will cancel all the rest of meetings and return to Ukraine," the communications department quoted the minister as saying.

Taking into account the time difference, Avakov is scheduled to arrive in Ukraine in the early hours of Wednesday. Earlier, the interior minister planned to return to Ukraine in three days' time.

As reported, on December 4, 2016 at 4:00 am in the village of Kniazhychi, Brovary district, Kyiv region employees of Special Weapons and Tactics police (KORD) of Ukrainian National Police, while performing their duties, used automatic weapons against the staff of Brovary Police Department of the Main Guard Police Department, which, together with two officers of the Main Department of operational service of the National Police in Kyiv, who were also performing their duties, used automatic weapons in response. Five law-enforcement officers were killed.