President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has flown to Brussels to start his first official foreign visit since taking office on May 20.
Shortly after arriving on the afternoon of June 4, the Ukrainian president met with Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission. Beyond an official handshake and photo session, the meeting was held in a VIP corner of the commission’s headquarters with no press access, according to Ukraine’s Interfax news agency.
Next, Zelenskiy met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the 29-nation alliance’s headquarters.
During a briefing after the meeting, Zelenskiy stressed that Ukraine would continue seeking Euro-Atlantic integration under his administration.
“Ukraine’s strategic course to acquire full-fledged membership in the European Union and NATO is enshrined in the Constitution of Ukraine, and it remains our unchangeable foreign policy priority,” he said.
“Ukraine’s efforts to achieve high European living and security standards are demanded by Ukrainian society, and are the goal of all of our reforms.”
Zelenskiy also said that Ukraine looks forward to welcoming the North Atlantic Council — the alliance’s principal political decision-making body, which consists of permanent representatives from its member states — to Kyiv in July.
He added that he hoped Ukraine and NATO would expand their cooperation into a full-fledged alliance. One of his top tasks in office, Zelenskiy said, would be to implement the provisions of Ukraine’s National Security Law, approved in June 2018 as part of a series of defense and security reforms set for completion by 2020.
“Now we must focus on our primary goal: implementing internal reforms that will bring our country closer to NATO,” he said.
“The actual implementation of National Security Law provisions is one of my top tasks: The (security service) reform, reforming intelligence agencies, the military production complex, ensuring democratic civilian control over the security and defense sector.”
Zelenskiy said Ukraine was ready for peace talks with Russia, but it would nonetheless continue enhancing its defense.
“We’re ready to negotiate with Russia. We are ready to implement the Minsk agreements,” he said, referring to a series of agreements for halting Russia’s war in Ukraine signed by Kyiv, Moscow, and Russia-backed fighters in Donbas. “But, first of all, we must be able to protect ourselves, to get stronger economically, politically, and militarily.”
He added that, on June 5, there would be a new meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group of Russia, Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Minsk, during which Ukraine would present a number of new proposals to Russia, including a ceasefire and a prisoner swap.
The recently appointed Chief of General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Ruslan Khomchak, will participate in the meeting — the first time a military officer has taken part in the Minsk process.
“We appreciate the president’s intentions to resolve the conflict (with Russia) in a peaceful way,” NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg said during a briefing.
Later on June 4, the Ukrainian leader is also expected to meet with Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue, and Polish President Andrzej Duda.
During the second day of his visit, on June 5, Zelenskiy will meet with Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and European Council President Donald Tusk, according to Zelenskiy’s press service.
