On January 22, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Olexandr Mischenko met with the Permanent Deputy Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom, Sir Oliver Robbins.

Olexandr Mischenko thanked his British colleague for his visit to Ukraine in this difficult time for us and noted the consistent and comprehensive support that the United Kingdom provides to Ukraine in countering the armed aggression of the Russian Federation, as well as the strategic nature of the Ukrainian-British partnership. In this context, the Ukrainian diplomat emphasized the leading role of the United Kingdom in consolidating countries in support of Ukraine.

The deputy minister also expressed gratitude to the United Kingdom for the significant assistance provided to Ukraine in the field of security and defense, which is critical to the protection of civilians and critical infrastructure facilities from daily missile and unmanned attacks by the Russian aggressor.

The interlocutors highly appreciated the results of the visit to Ukraine on January 16 of the Deputy Prime Minister of Great Britain David Lammy and the holding of the Forum of the Centennial Partnership between Ukraine and the United Kingdom in Kyiv, which was dedicated to the first anniversary of the signing of the Centennial Partnership Agreement between the two states. The parties stressed the importance of its further practical implementation.

The diplomats paid special attention to the development of practical interaction between the foreign policy departments of the two states in the field of advanced training of diplomatic workers, in particular by expanding professional exchange programs. The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs highly appreciated the level of interaction between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the British Embassy in Ukraine, headed by Ambassador Neil Crompton.

During the meeting, the interlocutors raised the issue of Russia's use of culture, art and sports as tools of hybrid warfare. The Ukrainian side emphasized that the Kremlin actively involves ballet, opera singers, dance groups and other cultural symbols in order to create the impression of the alleged "peacefulness" and "civilization" of the aggressor state, thus covering up the war crimes and the terrorist essence of the Putin regime. The Ukrainian side emphasized the importance of joint efforts to expose and neutralize such practices.

The parties separately emphasized the need to consolidate efforts in the fight against Russian disinformation and propaganda, which are components of Russia's hybrid war against Ukraine and the democratic world, as well as to strengthen coordination in the field of strategic communications.

For his part, Oliver Robbins strongly condemned the aggressive actions of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and reaffirmed the steadfave position of the United Kingdom on supporting Ukraine and assured the readiness of the British side to further strengthen cooperation with Ukraine in the areas of security, humanitarian support, countering disinformation and other manifestations of hybrid aggression.