The Ukrainian side continues to observe the Minsk agreements despite the complexity of the situation, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has said.

"We comply with the Minsk agreements however hard it appeared for us, which allowed our diplomacy to win a hard fight for the extension of sanctions against Russia all over the world," the president said at the celebration of the Unity Day of Ukraine in Kyiv on Sunday.

He noted that Ukraine does not abandon its principled positions.

"We were able convince our western allies during a difficult dialogue that any steps towards a political solution must be preceded by an obvious and undeniable progress in terms of security," Poroshenko said.