The recent visit of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Singapore marked a significant milestone in Ukraine-Singapore relations, highlighting critical areas of cooperation and ongoing challenges.
SINGAPORE, 14 June 2024 – IN Diplomacy had an exclusive interview with Her Excellency Ms. Kateryna Zelenko, the Ukraine Ambassador in Singapore. The ambassador spoke about the follow-ups and outcomes of President Zelenskyy’s visit to Singapore, Ukraine’s economy, the Ukraine-Singapore air services agreement, the just concluded Ukraine Recovery Conference on 11-12 June 2024 in Berlin, Germany, and the upcoming inaugural Global Peace Summit on 15-16 June 2024, in Bürgenstock, Switzerland.
Follow-ups and outcomes of President Zelensky’s recent visit
The visit of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Singapore was important in many aspects. It was the first visit of President Zelenskyy to Southeast Asia over the period of his tenure and the first visit of Ukraine’s leader to the region since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
During the visit President Zelenskyy addressed the participants of the 21st IISS Shangri-La Dialogue including more than 580 delegates from 55 countries, drawing the attention of more than 350 media outlets covering the summit to the common need to protect sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of states within their internationally recognized borders enshrined in the UN Charter and key principles of international law.
This address, as well as the President’s meetings with other leaders in the Asia-Pacific region, allowed us to highlight the global negative impact of the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine and to present Ukraine’s view of a path leading to its just end. President Zelenskyy also had bilateral meetings with the President of Singapore Tharman Shanmugaratnam and the Prime Minister of Singapore Lawrence Wong. These meetings confirmed the high level of relations between the countries and allowed us to discuss prospects of future cooperation, including trade, food security, digitalization, and other areas of mutual interest.
Current state of the economy and what areas Ukraine is seeking assistance.
Ukrainian industrial and agrifood facilities, as well as maritime ports, are still targeted by Russian missile and drone attacks, which limit their operational capacities. At the same time, Ukrainian armed forces were able to push back the Russian fleet in the Black Sea from Ukrainian shores and successfully unblock the maritime trade routes for Ukraine’s largest seaport – the port of Odesa. However, to ensure that all enterprises and farms continue to operate, Ukraine needs more air defence systems to withstand Russian missile attacks. Improved air defence capabilities would allow for better protect the Ukrainian civilian population from Russian missile terror. Better air protection would also have a positive impact on the stability of supply chains, playing a crucial role in ensuring food security in Africa and Asia.
However, despite the challenges of the ongoing war, Ukrainian businesses continue to operate, produce goods, sustain, and even increase exports in some cases. For example, in 2023 trade turnover in goods between Ukraine and Singapore increased by 62%, and Ukrainian goods exports increased by 103% thanks to an increase in supplies of sunflower and rapeseed oils, table eggs, poultry meat, and barley.
The scope of and implementation of the Ukraine-Singapore air services agreement.
During President Zelenskyy’s visit to Singapore, an intergovernmental Air Services Agreement was signed. The agreement is aimed at facilitating air connectivity between both countries – it creates a bilateral legal framework for the establishment and operation of regular air services between Ukraine and the Republic of Singapore, which will help establish and expand effective economic relations and intensify people-to-people contacts.
The agreement became a forward-looking step in developing prospective areas of cooperation despite the challenges faced by Ukraine due to Russia’s military aggression.
The upcoming conference and message to Singaporeans.
This week, there are 2 major high-level events dedicated to Ukraine:
• On 11-12 June the Ukraine Recovery Conference took place in Berlin, Germany. It focused largely on the prospects of Ukraine’s future restoration and growth. Dozens of countries and hundreds of private companies had the opportunity to engage with Ukraine’s leadership to define areas of their potential interest in investing in Ukraine now and after the establishment of sustainable and just peace in Ukraine. We saw a vivid interest of numerous foreign companies and partner states to participate in Ukraine’s reconstruction, which we expect to become the biggest building site in Europe.
• On 15-16 June 2024, in Bürgenstock, Switzerland – the inaugural Global Peace Summit. It is aimed at creating a platform to pave the way for comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine, which can only be achieved and established by global efforts.
We appreciate Singapore’s participation along with its unwavering position in support of international law and key principles of the UN Charter. We believe, that the Summit will demonstrate a clear commitment of the international community to the principles and values of our common humanity.
Source: H.E. Kateryna Zelenko, IN Diplomacy Reporters
