On December 19, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Yevhen Perebyinis took part online in the 51st meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC).

In his speech, the Deputy Minister expressed gratitude to Bulgaria, whose chairmanship of the BSEC is coming to an end, for the work done and the efforts made to implement the goals of the Organization.

Speaking to the participants of the meeting, Yevhen Perebyinis emphasized that the Russian aggression against Ukraine has turned the Black Sea region from a space of cooperation into an arena of instability. According to him, as long as the war unleashed by Russia continues, the implementation of the goals of the Organization stipulated by the BSEC charter is practically impossible.

Yevhen Perebyinis informed the members of the meeting about the recent Russian attacks on the critical infrastructure of one of the key Black Sea cities - Odessa, as a result of which the city was on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe. In this regard, he noted that the fact that the aggressor state is still a member of the Organization is a disgrace to the BSEC.

The head of the Ukrainian delegation thanked the BSEC member states, in particular Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Moldova, North Macedonia and Romania, for supporting the Joint Statement initiated by Ukraine, which strongly condemns Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine, and called on the remaining member states to also join this statement.