Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Kyiv on August 18-20 to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, The Times of Israel said. According to the publication, Netanyahu is set to fly to Ukraine for a two-day visit less than a month before the elections to the 22nd Knesset. In Kyiv, Netanyahu will meet with Zelensky and visit the Babi Yar (Babyn Yar) Holocaust Memorial Center.
As reported, Netanyahu in April congratulated Zelensky over the phone on his victory in the presidential elections in Ukraine.
On January 21, Ukraine and Israel signed an agreement on a free trade area (FTA), according to which Israel abolishes about 80% of import duties for Ukrainian industrial goods and more than 9% for agricultural goods. At the same time, Ukraine abolishes about 70% of import duties for Israeli industrial products and more than 6% for agricultural goods.
At that time, Netanyahu welcomed the “strong” Israeli-Ukrainian relations. “These ties have deep historical and cultural roots,” he said.
On July 11, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ratified an international free trade agreement between Ukraine and Israel.
On August 7, Zelensky signed bill No. 0223 on ratification of the FTA agreement into law.
The United States and Ukraine continue to prepare for the visit of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to the United States, Kurt Volker, the Special Representative of the U.S. State Department for Ukraine Negotiations, said. “We are working on President Zelensky visit to the White House,” Volker said at a briefing in Kyiv on Saturday.
As reported, on July 25, U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a telephone conversation agreed to substantively discuss practical issues of Ukrainian-American cooperation during the visit of the Ukrainian head of state to the United States.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will pay an official visit to France on June 17 and to Germany on June 18, the Presidential Administration has reported.
“The program of the visits envisages meetings of the head of state with the leadership of France and Germany, the heads of parliaments, as well as with leading French and German business representatives,” the administration said on its Facebook page on Thursday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has received U.S. President Donald Trump’s invitation to pay an official visit to Washington, the newspaper Dzerkalo Tyzhnia (Mirror Weekly) said on Saturday.
According to the newspaper, Zelensky received the invitation on May 31 and the visit may take place in August-September, “after a meeting between the U.S. president and the Russian one.”
Meanwhile, neither Washington, nor Kyiv have officially confirmed this information.
The Verkhovna Rada’s chairman Andriy Parubiy will be on a visit to South Korea from December 10 to discuss, in particular, a visa-free regime between the two countries.
“We are on the brink of crucial decisions,” Parubiy said in an interview with Rada TV channel, adding that there are plans “to reach the finish in discussing the decision to discontinue the visa regime between Ukraine and South Korea.”
“Today South Korea is one of the most dynamically developing economies in the world. It is one of the top twenty most effective world economies. It is important that Ukraine could have a visa-free regime with South Korea as well,” the politician said.
The Ukrainian parliament’s speaker said the parties are planning to sign an agreement between the Verkhovna Rada and the parliament of South Korea that will help promote closer cooperation between the parliaments of both countries. Also, he voiced the hope for receiving support and assistance in upgrading the Rada system, which is used by the Ukrainian parliament for voting purposes.
Parubiy said his trip will be very important for the inter-parliamentary diplomacy and for cooperation with that region.
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite will visit Ukraine in a few days, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has said. “Dalia Grybauskaite, President of Lithuania … will be in Kyiv in a few days as my guest, a guest of Ukraine,” Poroshenko said during a meeting with students of the National University of Trade and Economics in Kyiv.
