The talks were held the day before an EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting whose agenda will include cooperation with Poland’s eastern neighbour. At the invitation of the Danish foreign minister, the video conference brought together the chief of Ukrainian diplomacy Dmytro Kuleba and his counterparts from Croatia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Sweden, Spain, and the Czech Republic, as well as representatives of Belgian, German, Dutch, Finnish, and Romanian MFAs, along with European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Olivér Várhelyi and Secretary General of the European External Action Service Helga Smith. The participants discussed the fight against the coronavirus epidemic, implementation of pro-European reforms by Kyiv, and the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Minister Kuleba thanked for the support Ukraine has received from both the EU institutions and member states. He appreciated the EU’s consistent stance on Moscow’s demands for lifting sanctions and underlined that the Ukrainian government wants to continue its pro-European reforms. The representatives of the EU institutions announced that EUR 190 million was earmarked for Ukraine’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic, while additional funds were allocated for rebuilding Donbas.

Minister Jacek Czaputowicz pointed to Ukraine’s strategic importance for the EU, and highlighted the need to maintain regular political contacts with the country, also during the epidemic. The chief of Polish diplomacy presented information on Poland’s assistance to Ukrainian health services. 

MFA Press Office

photo: Tymon Markowski/MFA