Zelensky, Netanyahu agree to expand economic cooperation

Ukrainian President Zelensky and Israeli PM Netanyahu
reached an agreement on Aug. 19 to begin work to expand on their respective
countries’ planned free trade zone to include services. At a joint press
conference in Kyiv that day, Netanyahu thanked Ukraine’s parliament for
approving the free trade agreement in mid-July, adding that its ratification
and expansion in the Israeli Knesset will begin after snap legislative
elections scheduled for Sept. 17. In his turn, Zelensky said the agreement’s
ratification should cause annual trade with Ukraine to swell far beyond USD 1
bln currently. The leaders also announced plans to create centers for
high-technology development in Kyiv and Jerusalem. “We will exchange
technologies and include Ukrainians in our high-tech industry. We will make
joint investments in this sphere here in Ukraine,” said Netanyahu, who was in
Kyiv for a two-day working visit.

Zenon Zawada: With Netanyahu’s historic visit to Kyiv, the first in his 13 years as
Israeli prime minister, Zelensky is pursuing the essence of his political
agenda, which is political pragmatism and economic development. Israel is as
natural as a political ally and economic partner for Ukraine as any country, especially
considering the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who have traveled to live
and work in Israel since the Soviet collapse. So this was an easy foreign
policy score for Zelensky.