Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that ten African states where Ukraine will open new embassies next year have already been determined.
“We are resetting relations with dozens of African countries. Next year we have to strengthen it. Ten states where new Ukrainian embassies in Africa will be opened have already been determined. We have also developed the concept of the Ukraine-Africa Trading House with the opening of its representative offices in the capitals of the continent’s most promising countries,” Zelensky said at the Ukrainian ambassadors’ conference “War and New Horizons in the World” on Friday.
The President stressed that “in addition to the existing representation of Ukraine in ten countries in Africa, together with new embassies and trading houses, it is necessary to achieve representation in thirty countries of the African continent.”
At the same time, the head of state noted that global growth is impossible without relations with other parts of the Global South as well.
“Latin America, India, other Asian countries, including China and Southeast Asia, the entire Indian and Pacific island region. Ukraine must find a format for its leadership in strategic processes in each of these regions, and the role of Ukraine’s diplomatic corps will be decisive,” Zelensky said.
On October 3-12, the first tour of the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to African countries in the history of Ukrainian diplomacy will take place, Minister Kuleba will begin the tour with a visit to Senegal.
As the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs notes, the tour is an important element of the African strategy, developed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on behalf of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and which has become a “road map” for the development of relations between our state and the region.
The key topic of the minister’s talks will be the consolidation of political support for Ukraine from the countries of the global south against the backdrop of Russian aggression, in particular, the latest attempt to annex Ukrainian territories.
Other priorities of the negotiations will be strengthening the role of Ukraine as a guarantor of world food security, deepening cooperation in the field of education, promoting Ukrainian IT products, in particular the Action platform, creating new opportunities for Ukrainian exports using the capabilities of the Nazovni system. Within the framework of the visits, a number of business forums with the participation of leading Ukrainian and African companies are also planned.
The visits of the Foreign Minister will open a new section of cooperation with the countries of the African continent and will contribute to the implementation of Ukraine’s global and proactive diplomacy.
The minister’s tour will also be a preparation for a large-scale Ukraine-Africa conference.
