Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed the Agreement on Political Partnership, Free Trade and Strategic Partnership.
As reported on the website of the British government, the purpose of signing the document is to strengthen cooperation between the two countries "on political issues, security issues and the international agenda."
In a release from the government press service, it is noted that the current agreement will allow countries, after the end of the transition period following Britain's exit from the EU, to trade with each other in the same way as now.
The agreement also emphasizes the United Kingdom's support for Ukraine's "sovereignty and territorial integrity", as well as the two countries' commitment to strengthening democracy, human rights and deepening defense cooperation.
“Great Britain is Ukraine's most ardent supporter.
Whether it's defense support, stabilization efforts, humanitarian assistance or close political cooperation, our position remains clear: we strongly support the preservation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The strategic partnership agreement, which we signed today, signals the next chapter in our relations, ”the press service quotes Boris Johnson.
Prince William and Vladimir Zelensky with their spouses
Reuters
© Jonathan Brady
In turn, the website of the President of Ukraine notes that the signed "document provides for the holding of annual meetings of the Strategic Partnership Dialogue at a high official or highest government level on all aspects of bilateral cooperation."
The agreement also provides for the holding of meetings of the Trade Committee, which will consist of representatives of the parties.
At the same time, later, Deputy Minister of Economy - Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka wrote on his Facebook page that in two years the agreement on political cooperation, free trade and strategic partnership between Ukraine and the UK could be revised.
At the same time, he added that in the current version, the document does not significantly expand the opportunities for Kiev to promote its goods on the British market.
Russia and NATO
During the meeting, the parties also discussed the topic of countering Russia.
“The leaders of the two countries discussed the importance of joint activities to combat the harmful influence of Russia, both in Ukraine and in the region as a whole.
They also expressed general concern about the situation in Belarus.
The Prime Minister spoke about the measures that the UK has taken in response to human rights violations in this country, including the imposition of sanctions, ”- said on the website of the UK government.
On defense issues, the British Prime Minister welcomed NATO's recent decision to grant Ukraine the status of a partner in the Enhanced Opportunity Alliance and offered Kiev assistance to the UK as the country makes "progress on defense and security reforms."
In turn, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that during his visit to London, Zelenskiy announced the need to provide Ukraine with an Action Plan for NATO membership.
“We spoke about NATO separately.
Our president was very clear: he said that Ukraine needs a Membership Action Plan and that NATO membership will contribute to Ukrainian security and defense, ”the Foreign Minister said during a live broadcast on Facebook.
A day earlier, on October 7, a memorandum was also signed between Kiev and London on strengthening cooperation in the military and military-technical spheres, the press service of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reports.
On the part of Kiev, the document was signed by the head of the defense department Andrei Taran.
According to him, the memorandum deals with the supply of modern samples of military equipment, the establishment of the production of certain types of military products in Ukraine, as well as the construction of base facilities for the Ukrainian Navy.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a visit to the UK
Reuters
© John Sibley
“The implementation of these projects will significantly enhance the capabilities and combat potential of the Ukrainian fleet, the compatibility of the domestic Navy with the naval component of NATO member states.
In addition, we hope that this will become a driver for the restoration of the shipbuilding industry in Ukraine and will allow attracting modern technologies to our economy, ”Taran said.
When announcing the signing of the memorandum, Zelenskiy called it "an important strategic document."
“We will be at the naval base and sign this memorandum worth £ 1.25 billion ($ 1.6 billion).
We all believed that there would be a navy in Ukraine again.
And finally, this is the first such powerful step, ”Zelensky said.
"Scanty trading partner"
According to experts, from an economic point of view, the importance of Ukraine as a trading partner for the UK is "negligible".
The website of the British government notes that the volume of trade between London and Kiev in 2019 amounted to about $ 1.9 billion. At the same time, in the ranking of trading partners in terms of the volume of exports of British goods for the 2018-2019 financial year, Ukraine was in 58th place.
“For London, Kiev is a scanty trade partner.
In addition, Ukraine does not supply there any irreplaceable, strategically important goods, "said Andrey Suzdaltsev, deputy dean of the HSE Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, in an interview with RT.
Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State Pedagogical University, adheres to a similar point of view.
“The trade turnover between Ukraine and Great Britain is rather small.
It would be naive to believe that this agreement will create impulses for the Ukrainian economy, attract serious British investment, or that Britain can become a sales market for Ukrainian goods.
It will not happen.
Over the course of several years, we have seen how agreements are being signed between Ukraine and the EU, for the sake of which a coup d'etat was carried out, but this did not give any positive results for Kiev, "he said in an interview with RT.
According to him, the signing of these agreements has more political than economic significance.
“This agreement is not economic, but political.
It is a demonstration of Britain's support for the current Ukrainian regime, ”the expert said.
At the same time, Andrei Suzdaltsev suggested that Kiev would present this visit to the internal audience as a “great achievement”.
“For the current Ukrainian authorities, the fact of signing these agreements is a huge success, since they are accepted on equal terms.
Zelensky portrays this event as a breakthrough, improving the economy.
In fact, Great Britain did not notice Zelensky's visit, it is more concerned about questions regarding how to live with Europe, how to develop relations with the United States, ”the political scientist says.
The experts also drew attention to the traditional anti-Russian rhetoric that was voiced at the meeting.
“Great Britain and Ukraine are participating in the sanctions regime against Russia and are most actively seeking to tighten measures against it.
The mention of countering the Russian Federation shows that both countries are capable of taking part in the future sanctions campaign against the Russian Federation, which is now being actively formed in the EU.
The fact that the President of Ukraine is discussing anti-Russian policy with the Prime Minister of Great Britain indicates that with the change of power in Kiev, foreign policy has not undergone significant changes, "Shapovalov stated.
At the same time, Suzdaltsev, in turn, expressed confidence that Britain's support for the "territorial integrity" of Ukraine would remain only in words.
He noted that London, despite the signing of the memorandum, will not be able to provide any real assistance to Kiev, including in the military sphere.
“All Zelenskiy’s conversations with when he meets with Western leaders boil down to investing in fighting Russia.
Kiev would like someone else to fight Moscow instead.
However, no Western country is going to do this, so all that remains is to talk about it, ”the analyst concluded.