On 16 April Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba had a phone conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The Head of Ukrainian Foreign Ministry thanked the UAE for its humanitarian assistance – means of medical protection, as well as for the assistance in the return home of Ukrainian citizens from the UAE.

“The Government of Ukraine and its citizens are very grateful to the UAE for the medical aid that is extremely necessary for us to fight COVID-19. The UAE has become one of the first states in the world to respond so promptly on our call for aid. Your help to Ukraine has become another confirmation that the UAE have a well-deserved status of the world's largest humanitarian donor”, Dmytro Kuleba said.

Recalling that the leaders of Ukraine and the UAE have recently discussed a further cooperation between the countries after defeating the virus, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine also proposed to intensify collaboration in the field of trade-economic relations.

“I believe that after coronavirus shutdown we should concentrate our common efforts and hold the next session of the Ukraine-UAE Joint Committee on trade and economic cooperation. It will give important impetus to restart the economic dialogue between our countries. Ukrainian side is also interested in joint implementation of projects in the infrastructure, energy, agriculture, science and medical spheres”, Ukrainian diplomat stressed.

It bears reminding that on April 10, 2020, a flight of Emirati airline “Etihad Airways” arrived at Boryspil International Airport delivering from the UAE 11 tons of humanitarian aid and 113 Ukrainian citizens to Ukraine.