During his Middle East trip, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha together with Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Vitalii Koval visited the Republic of Lebanon.

In Beirut, the Foreign Minister and members of the delegation met with the Lebanese government officials, political and religious leaders, and separately met with the Ukrainian community.

The key issues of the talks with the Lebanese Minister of Telecommunications were cybersecurity and the Ukrainian experience in digitalization. The parties agreed to develop partnership in these areas.

The Minister held separate meeting with the Patriarch of Antioch for Maronites, head of the Maronite Church, Béchara Boutros Raï. The Foreign Minister spoke about the difficult situation in Ukraine and regular Russian shelling, he expressed gratitude to the Patriarch for his constant attention to the Ukrainian people and prayers for the restoration of just peace.

Andrii Sybiha also held talks with the Head of the Christian party "Lebanese Forces", Dr. Samir Geagea, and discussed the issues of joint countering the Russian and Iranian regimes, which seek to destroy stability in Europe and the Middle East.

The Minister separately met with the Ukrainian community. He expressed gratitude to the Ukrainians of Lebanon for maintaining Ukrainian identity and culture, defending the positions of our state, and their proactive and strong voice.

Andrii Sybiha announced significant simplification of the access to consular services within the framework of the implementation of the «e-Consul» system and informed on the implementation of a new policy for Ukrainians abroad, which is aimed todemonstrate the care of state and maintain ties of communities abroad with Ukraine.

The Minister supported the community's initiative to establish the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Lebanon and gave relevant instructions for its earliest launch.

«We are ready to deepen the Ukrainian-Lebanese relations, develop political and economic cooperation, and strengthen people-to-people contacts» - the Minister said following the visit.