Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba has listed seven main successes of Ukraine's diplomacy in 2020.
He shared the Top-7 achievements on Facebook on December 22.
Beefing up security in Ukraine tops the list, he said.
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"Ukraine was recognized as an Enhanced Opportunities Partner for NATO and entered the club of the Alliance's six closest partners in the world. Arms were delivered from the United States (the first direct purchase of Javelins, the decision to provide and sell modern Mark VI patrol boats). Security, defense and military-technical agreements were signed with Turkey (Bayraktar unmanned aerial vehicles, the Navy, engines), an agreement to develop the Navy (1.25 billion pounds) was struck with Great Britain," Kuleba recalled.
Another achievement is "raising Russia's costs for aggression against Ukraine," he said.
"[We] did not let the Russian Federation make sanctions against it less loose under the pretext of COVID-19 and achieved an increase in sanctions pressure. The prosecutors of the International Criminal Court in The Hague found sufficient grounds to start an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in the context of Russian aggression in Crimea and Donbas since 2014," he said.
The minister called the assistance to citizens and the healthcare system in countering the spread of COVID-19 as the third success of Ukrainian diplomats.
"We attracted humanitarian aid from the United States, Italy, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Slovakia, Poland, and many other countries – EU members, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea. From Vietnam there were 900 ventilators worth US$10 million, 50 ventilators from Denmark, 50 ventilators from Hungary, etc. In total, there were more than 1,500 ventilators, more than 300,000 tests + 1.5 million express tests from the UAE in December. Other materials and equipment for fighting the pandemic (face masks, respirators, protective clothing, thermometers, etc.) exceeded 4 million units," he said.
He also mentioned the release of many Ukrainians from behind bars abroad as the fourth success.
Kuleba considers the leadership shown by Ukraine in bilateral relations and in Central Europe in general to be the fifth success.
"Ukraine has become a co-author of a new regional format 'Lublin Triangle.' For the first time in 70 years, we headed the Danube Commission. For the first time we nominated a candidate for the post of BSEC Secretary General. Policy is proactive in relations with neighbors: Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Moldova and regarding events in Belarus," he added.
In addition, he recalled the signing of a historic agreement with Great Britain, which begins a qualitatively new level of strategic partnership.
The sixth success, according to Kuleba, is assistance to Ukrainian exporters in the world. According to him, the Council of Exporters and Investors under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been turned into an effective agency.
"Here are several case studies: we with Malaysia held the largest online conference of businesses in Ukraine and Malaysia (more than 300 companies), opened the Singapore market for Ukrainian ready-made meat products from poultry and pork + poultry meat according to halal standards; helped to conclude an agreement on the first trial batch of Ukrainian honey in Kuwait, helped seven new Ukrainian food producers to enter the Swedish market, helped a Ukrainian beer producer in Thailand to establish contacts with Thai colleagues, the possibility of supplying malt is being considered; Korea has approved Health Certificate forms for exports of products of certain types of animal husbandry from Ukraine," he said.
He also recalled that the free trade zone between Ukraine and the State of Israel would start working from January 1, 2021. The minister believes that the free trade zone creates new opportunities for businesses and a boost to trade.
The minister called the completion of the first stage of large-scale digitalization as the seventh success of the Foreign Ministry.
"The electronic queue is available in all 116 embassies and consulates abroad. The commercial operation of the e-consul modules has begun. And much, much more has been done) In particular, I am glad that we have managed to liberalize the visa policy for entering Ukraine. But all this cannot be squeezed into one Facebook post," he said.
