Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko met with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session in New York on Sept. 21.
The meeting between the two leaders was held behind closed doors. At a press briefing after it, they told journalists that progress had been made in relations between the two nations.
According to Poroshenko, Ukraine-U.S. cooperation in security, defense and the economy have improved under the Trump administration.
“I’d just mention one single figure,” Poroshenko said. “Trade between the United States and Ukraine over the last seven months increased by 2.5 times… This is again a sign that we’re welcoming American companies to the Ukrainian market, and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs in Ukraine and the U.S.”
Trump said that despite Ukraine not being “the easiest place to live, it gets along well, pretty well”, adding that U.S. businesses were very interested in Ukraine, and see huge potential there.
During the press briefing Poroshenko expressed sympathy to American people over the recent hurricanes, Irma and Harvey, that brought devastation across southern U.S. states in the last few weeks. He said he admired Trump’s leadership in difficult times.
After delivering short comments, Trump and Poroshenko left the press hall, without answering any questions from reporters.
The previous meeting between the two presidents took place on June 20 at the White House.
Poroshenko met with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Sept. 20, the same day he addressed the United Nations General Assembly.
