Ukraine, Britain sign strategic partnership agreement

Ukraine and Great Britain signed on Oct. 8 an
agreement on political cooperation, free trade and strategic partnership, which
serves to replace the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement following Britain’s exit
from the EU in January. Ukrainian President Zelensky signed the agreement,
alongside British PM Boris Johnson, during a two-day working visit to London
that marked a renewal in Ukrainian-British relations. “A historical moment: we
signed the agreement. As PM Boris Jonhson said, this means more trade, more
security and more cooperation between Ukraine and Great Britain,” tweeted
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

As part of the agreement, Britain has established a
special envoy to the prime minister on trade with Ukraine. The appointment,
reported to be “baroness Meyer,” is “yet more evidence of the importance that
we are granting our bilateral economic cooperation,” wrote UK Ambassador to
Ukraine Melinda Simmons on her blog. The first bilateral trade agreement
between Ukraine and the UK covers the exchange of goods and services in the
energy, mining, industrial, agricultural, information, environmental and climate
change sectors.

The prior day on Oct. 7, Zelensky and Johnson signed a
memorandum to re-equip Ukraine’s navy forces, which involves the joint
production of missile boats to be financed with a 10-year loan for GBP 1.25
bln. The funds will be used to construct infrastructure to serve as a base for
these boats, which meet NATO standards, in Ochakiv, a Black Sea port. The funds
are part of GBP 2.5 bln in credit guarantees that Ukraine secured from the UK
Export Finance agency, which can be used for defense, agriculture,
infrastructure, energy and health, according to the memorandum.

Zenon Zawada: This
agreement is among the major foreign policy accomplishments of the Zelensky
administration so far, laying a critical cornerstone for improved relations
with not only Britain, but the West as a whole. Among its key architects was
the 39-year-old Kuleba, the talented and ambitious foreign minister who has
been assertively pursuing new strategic alliances for Ukraine as the country
continues to struggle with Russian aggression. In the short time since his
March appointment, Kuleba has demonstrated his high value and reliability to
Zelensky as his top diplomat by securing pragmatic diplomatic gains with
Ukraine’s allies (while Andriy Yermak continues to be the president’s pointman
on Russia).