Kiev to denounce some key agreements with Russia, step up cooperation with U.S., NATO
MOSCOW. April 20 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian government has approved an action plan to implement the national foreign political strategy for 2023-2024.
A government resolution of April 18, quoted by the Ukrainian media, says that the action plan envisages the denouncement of the Ukrainian-Russian agreement on cooperation in the use of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait of 2023. The plan stipulates the drafting of an initiative together with NATO and its member states to preserve and enhance the NATO presence in the eastern Mediterranean and, after the end of the crisis, in the Black Sea region. There will be a larger number of Ukraine-NATO exercises at sea and in the coastal zone and closer cooperation between the navies of Ukraine, Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria and Georgia in the Black Sea. It is also planned to elaborate a mechanism for Ukraine's full membership in the Three Seas Initiative, to prepare for signing intergovernmental bilateral agreements with Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania on cooperation in maritime search and rescue, and consultations on waters delimitation in the southwestern part of the Black Sea.
The plan envisages Ukraine's participation in the new formats of the political process in the European Union, including the European Political Community initiative. A Ukraine-EU agreement on assessing the conformity and acceptability of industrial products, and an agreement on Ukraine's participation in the common market program (2021-2027) are planned to be signed. There are also plans of dialogue with the EU on Ukraine's full-fledged participation in such European Commission programs as European Universities Alliances and Alliances for Innovations, alongside the establishment of a separate program to support and restore education in Ukraine.
The working mechanism of the Ukraine-NATO Commission will be restored and Ukraine's participation in meetings of NATO defense and foreign ministers will be ensured. Ukraine's participation in NATO operations, including the NATO Training Mission - Iraq (NMI), the NATO Sea Guard operation in the Mediterranean, and the NATO operation in Kosovo (KFOR) - will be reinstated when martial law is over. The work on the participation of Ukrainian forces and hardware in the NATO Response Force will resume.
It is planned to bolster strategic partnership with the United States (by mechanisms of the Ukraine-U.S. Strategic Partnership Commission, the Ukraine-U.S. Trade and Investment Council, defense consultations, cyber dialogue and other bilateral mechanisms and sectoral bilateral cooperation projects). There will be new joint projects in the United States to develop the Ukrainian navy and air and missile defense, to create a comprehensive system for the detection of threats on the land border, and to foster capacities of aviation, missile forces, artillery, intelligence and ECM systems, drones and robotic systems. Cooperation will deepen in the Ukraine - UK - Poland alliance, including in the areas of cybersecurity, countering of hybrid threats and disinformation, energy security, enhanced defense and security, and interaction in international organizations. Memoranda will be signed to promote industrial cooperation with high-tech solutions from the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Canada. There will be cooperation in space exploration will be the United States, EU members, Japan, Australia, China, Turkey, Chile, Thailand, Malaysia and Kenya.
The plan also envisages the signing of memoranda of mutual understanding in tourism with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Spain, and the opening of an office for support to investment and technologies in Ukraine.