On 21 October in Luxembourg Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Leonid Kozhara met with Vice-President of the European Commission - EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton.
Ukraine's progress towards signing an Association Agreement with the European Union during the Vilnius summit of "Eastern Partnership" in November 2013 was a key issue during the meeting. Catherine Ashton informed the Foreign Minister of Ukraine about the results of the discussion that took place at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting.
Leonid Kozhara thanked the EU High Representative for the consistent support of Ukraine's European aspirations, and stressed that legislative and executive powers, as well as leading political parties of Ukraine demonstrate unity over the European choice and exert joint efforts for meeting the tasks, agreed with the EU, required for signing the Association Agreement.
The current issues of international and regional cooperation were also on the agenda. Leonid Kozhara informed Catherine Ashton about the state of implementation of the key priorities of Ukraine's Chairmanship in the OSCE. EU High Representative welcomed Ukraine's decision to make a concrete contribution to the EU-led anti-piracy operation “ATALANTA” by dispatching the Ukrainian frigate "Hetman Sahaidachny" to patrol the coast of Somalia starting from 2014.