On February 17, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Emine Dzhaparova met with President of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Salvatore Sciacchitano and Secretary-General of ICAO Juan Carlos Salazar.

The First Deputy Minister informed the ICAO leadership about the current security situation in Ukraine, the efforts of the Ukrainian authorities, and the world community to deter Russian aggression.

Emine Dzhaparova assured ICAO representatives in the monitoring of the situation on Ukraine's borders and in the airspace. She stressed that the hybrid methods of war that Russia has been waging against Ukraine for eight years in a row, among other things, include disinformation, weakening of the Ukrainian economy, cyber-attacks. The victims of these information attacks are also participants of the insurance market and aircraft leasing companies. This, in turn, threatens Ukraine's stable aviation connection with the world.

The President of the ICAO Council and the Secretary-General of the ICAO praised the efforts taken by Ukrainian authorities and stressed the importance of further close cooperation with international aviation bodies. They expressed the belief that the decisions of ICAO and other aviation bodies should be based on official sources, in accordance with established practices and mechanisms.

Emine Dzhaparova condemned the Kremlin's aggressive intentions to legitimize the attempt to annex Crimea in the airspace and thanked ICAO for its firm stance on non-recognition of Russia's publications of aeronautical information regarding the temporarily occupied Crimea.

The meeting was also attended by Head of the State Aviation Administration of Ukraine Oleksandr Bilchuk and Adviser to the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Babeychuk.