UKRAINE SIGNS MEMORANDUM TO MODERNIZE ITS NAVY, NEW PARTNERSHIP AND TRADE AGREEMENT WITH THE UK
On 8 October, one day after signing a Memorandum to modernize the Ukrainian Navy, Ukraine and the United Kingdom signed an agreement on political cooperation, free trade, and strategic partnership, which will replace the Association Agreement on trade with Britain after Brexit.
The signing, which took place during Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy’s visit to London, was announced by Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on twitter:
“Historic moment: the Agreement is signed. As Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, it means more trade, more security, more cooperation between Ukraine & UK. Two flanks of Europe – Western & Eastern – have become even closer,” the minister wrote on twitter.
The voluminous document was signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on behalf of Ukraine and Prime Minister Borys Johnson on behalf of the UK.
This agreement will establish a strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Earlier, Ukrainian Ambassador Vadym Prystaiko explained that this is a comprehensive and permanent trade and cooperation agreement, similar to the Association Agreement with the EU.
Prystaiko admitted that the agreement does not address the UK’s restrictive visa policy towards Ukraine, but suggested that this could be a topic for further separate discussions.
As a result of the agreement, the UK will now create a new position of the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Trade with Ukraine.
In a live video, Kuleba noted that a special technical assistance program to teach Ukrainian business, primarily, small and medium-sized businesses, how to trade with the UK and use the opportunities created by the agreement will be launched.
The agreement is the second important document signed by Ukraine and the UK in the last two days.
On October 7, the countries signed a memorandum to re-equip the Ukrainian Navy. According to the press service of the President of Ukraine, the Memorandum on strengthening cooperation in the military and military-technical spheres was signed by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andriy Taran and the Secretary of State for Defense of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland Ben Wallace and envisions a 10-year loan of up to £1.25 bn ($1.6 bn) which will be used to produce modern missile ships and build port infrastructure for the naval base of these ships in Ochakiv.
