The Lithuanian President will meet with President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine in Kyiv to discuss the security situation in eastern Ukraine and the Sea of Azov. Support to Ukraine under huge pressure from Russian aggression will be one of the key topics as well as Lithuania’s options for facilitating international response to Russia’s open military actions in the Kerch Strait.
Lithuania has decided to step up military support to Ukraine in response to the illegal seizure of its naval ships and the blockade of the strategic ports of Mariupol and Berdiansk by Russia as well as ongoing attempts to turn the Sea of Azov into a bridgehead for further likely aggression.
Strengthening of bilateral relations, economic and business ties will also be addressed at the meeting. The fully functioning association and free trade agreements between Ukraine and the EU have boosted bilateral trade between Lithuania and Ukraine by 14 percent. A bilateral Ukrainian-Lithuanian business forum will also take place in Kyiv during the President’s visit.
The two Presidents will focus on Ukraine-EU cooperation and the implementation of reforms necessary for Ukraine’s European integration: fighting corruption, reforming law enforcement institutions and making other important steps on the path towards euro-integration.
The protection of rights of employees from Ukraine working in Lithuania is yet another relevant topic on the meeting agenda. A bilateral agreement on employment and cooperation in the area of labor migration is planned for signature, making fight against illegal work and exploitation easier and ensuring social guarantees to Ukrainian citizens employed in Lithuania.
Three more bilateral documents are to be signed in Kyiv: roadmap of the development of strategic partnership between Ukraine and Lithuania for 2019-2020, intergovernmental protocol on agreement between Ukraine and the European Communities on readmission of persons, and the Protocol of the 11th Council of Presidents of Lithuania and Ukraine.
The NGO-charity foundation “Kryla Peremogi”, which provides medical assistance to soldiers at the front line, will present Dalia Grybauskaitė with an honorable civil society award “Beregynia Ukrainy” for her committed support to Ukraine.
The Presidents of Lithuania and Ukraine will also welcome the participants of the 2nd Ukrainian Women’s Congress. It is a conference organized at the initiative of the Verkhovna Rada’s Equal Opportunities Caucus aimed at promoting equal opportunities and more active engagement of women in Ukrainian politics and business. This initiative is actively supported by international organizations and foundations such as the European Council, OSCE, ODIHR, UNDP, USAID, and NDI. It is also supported by the Swedish, Canadian and other foreign representations in Ukraine.
The President will pay tribute to the memory of the fallen and will lay flowers at the Memorial of the Heavenly Hundred on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the Maidan.
