On June 4 the fifth session of the sub-committee on international cooperation of the Ukrainian – Russian Intergovernmental Commission, chaired by Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Russia Kostyantyn Gryshchenko and Sergey Lavrov, was held in Odesa.

The meeting tackled the outcomes of the six sub-committees on Azov and Kerch regulation, consular cooperation, regional conflicts regulation, combating new challenges and threats, cooperation within international organizations and transborder issues.

The parties discussed preparations for the fifth session of the Ukrainian-Russian Intergovernmental Commission to be held in Kyiv under the chairmanship of the two Presidents. The sides approved the text of the Declaration on the contents of the Ukrainian – Russian strategic partnership, which has been agreed to be signed at the level of the Heads of State.

The delegations also touched on other topical issues of the Ukrainian-Russian cooperation in the economic and humanitarian spheres, cooperation within the framework of the CIS.

The parties agreed to launch the drafting of the Cooperation Plan between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Russian Federation for 2012.

Following the session of the sub-committee the Foreign Ministers signed the final protocol of the session and the protocol on drafting the joint collection of the bilateral documents, signed between Ukraine and Russia during the period of 2001 – 2010.

The scheduled sixth session of the sub-committee is to be held in the fourth quarter of 2011 in Nizhny Novgorod, the Russian Federation.