"Ukrainian-Swedish cooperation is important in overcoming challenges faced by Ukraine today", this was emphasized by the Deputy Minister Vasyl Bodnar in a meeting with a Swedish delegation headed by Jens Odlander, foreign policy advisor to Prime-Minister of Sweden.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine expressed gratitude for the political support of Sweden in protection  of territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, as well as practical assistance of Stockholm in implementing reforms in Ukraine. The Swedish official gave a positive assessment of the democracy and the achievements of internal transformations in Ukraine, which was demonstrated by the recent presidential elections in Ukraine.

It was emphasized that foreign policy priorities of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky remained unchanged. Touching upon the Eastern Partnership, the Ukrainian diplomat emphasized the importance of effective implementation within the framework of this initiative of the projects with practical content for citizens’ connectivity, in particular in the field of transport, communication, education, etc. He also noted that Eastern Partnership is considered by Ukraine as an important tool for achieving a strategic aim – full-fledged membership in the European Union.

During the meeting special attention was paid to the issue of Russian aggression against Ukraine. The Deputy Minister stressed that Russia is currently not demonstrating the intention of de-escalating the conflict, as evidenced in particular by the recent decision of the Russian leadership on the simplified procedure for issuing passports to residents of the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The importance of further pressure on the part of international community on Russia to encourage it to fully comply with the provisions of the Minsk Agreements was noted during the meeting. In his turn, J.Odlander expressed sympathy with the large number of human victims as a result of the conflict with Russia and the temporary occupation of parts of the territory of Ukraine.

During the meeting, the parties also agreed to discuss important directions of further assistance to Ukraine in the area of reforms during the Third Conference on Reforms in Ukraine, which will take place in Toronto (Canada) on July 2-4.