President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine and Moldova are intensifying cooperation in the areas of security, energy, and European integration.
He stated this during a joint press conference with Moldovan President Maia Sandu in Kyiv on April 26, a correspondent for Suspilny reports.
In particular, he said, during the meeting with Sandu, the parties discussed cross-border security, infrastructure development, energy relations, and coordination of actions for accession to the European Union. He stressed that both states deserve EU membership and are working to open all negotiation clusters.
“Both of our states deserve to be part of a strong, united Europe. Ukraine has always defended Moldova's right to be part of the EU. And we have previously taken significant steps to ensure that both of our states have candidacy. We are now working to ensure that all clusters of membership in the European Union are opened promptly, which will be our joint success for Ukraine, Moldova, and the entire EU,” the president said.
Zelensky also stressed that Ukraine will continue to support the territorial integrity of Moldova, in particular regarding Transnistria, and is ready to continue to assist in the security sphere. He also expressed readiness to expand trilateral cooperation in the Ukraine-Moldova-Romania format.
“We are doing important things together in infrastructure. This applies to transport routes, in particular transit, and also to our energy sector, in particular transponder power transmission lines. And the more real connections there are between our energy systems, the more protection there will be for the lives of our people, our nations,” Zelenskyy noted.
He also added that intergovernmental work was discussed, adding that “it is important that any economic issues that naturally arise in relations between neighbors are resolved as quickly as possible and in our common interests.”
As a reminder, on April 26, the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, Moldovan President Maia Sandu arrived in Kyiv for a visit. She will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and also visit Chernobyl, where she will honor those who “gave their health and lives for Europe.”