In Pretoria Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba held talks with Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa Naledi Pandor.

"While advancing the renaissance of Ukrainian-African relations, Ukraine seeks to bring cooperation with the Republic of South Africa to a qualitatively new level. We offer a partnership based on mutual respect and benefit. And I am glad that the government of South Africa shares our aspiration," said Dmytro Kuleba at the beginning of the meeting.

The head of Ukrainian diplomacy informed his South African colleague about the current situation at the front line and the devastating consequences of Russian armed aggression against Ukraine.

In this context, he highly appreciated the participation of South Africa in efforts to promote the Peace Formula of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Minister invited the South African side to participate in the Global Peace Summit, those preparations are currently being worked out by Ukraine and its partners.

Dmytro Kuleba emphasized the issue of the illegal deportation to Russia of the Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

The Ministers paid special attention to the export of the Ukrainian grain and food security of Africa. Dmytro Kuleba invited the South Africa to join the global humanitarian initiative of the President of Ukraine "Grain from Ukraine".

A separate topic of the negotiations was the intensification of cooperation in the field of digitalization of public services. Dmytro Kuleba noted that Ukraine is ready to share its advanced experience in creating a "state in a smartphone."

The Minister also proposed to hold a business forum in Kyiv in the near future with the participation of Ukrainian and South African businesses in order to increase bilateral trade and carry out mutually beneficial economic projects.

The Ministers also agreed to hold regular political consultations between Foreign Affairs Ministries and senior diplomats.

The interlocutors separately discussed cooperation between Ukraine and South Africa within the African Union, intensification of communications with African countries, Ukraine's participation in African mechanisms of facilitated and free trade.

As a wrap up, in the presence of the Ministers, a Memorandum on the development of cooperation in the field of diplomatic education and research was signed between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa.

In conclusion, Dmytro Kuleba invited Naleda Pandor to visit Ukraine at a time convenient for her.