Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe Kostyantyn Gryshchenko holds talks with Georgian Minister for Foreign Affairs Grigol Vashadze

On July 15 during his official visit to Georgia Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe Kostyantyn Gryshchenko held talks with his Georgian counterpart Grigol Vashadze.

The parties discussed a wide range of topical issues of cooperation between the countries in all spheres of bilateral relations. In particular the parties agreed to step up cooperation in the trade and economic sphere through establishing the joint intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation with its first session this autumn. A particular attention was attached to the issues of deepening cooperation in the spheres of transportation and energy.

“Today we urgently need to make our relations more pragmatic, to strengthen the political dialogue with long-term economic projects. That is why we have discussed holding a session of the joint intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation this autumn. We discussed transportation and energy issues, as well as realization of specific projects”, K.Gryshchenko stressed.

The parties exchanged opinions on the state of cooperation of the two countries with the European Union, including the issue of practical implementation of the Eastern Partnership initiative.

In the context of deepening cooperation within the framework of international organizations the parties agreed to strengthen interaction within the framework of the UN, OSCE and the Council of Europe. Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe K.Gryshchenko noted the successful development of Georgia’s cooperation with this Organization and confirmed his readiness to comprehensively support the CE efforts to promote Georgia in its reforms.

The sides positively assessed the high level of cultural and humanitarian ties between the countries, citing the example of scaled activities convened in Georgia on the occasion of the 140th anniversary of Lesia Ukrainka birthday.

The talks were followed by signing the Plan of consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Georgia for 2011-2012 and a joint press conference.