US-Ukraine Strategic Partnership Commission Meeting To Be Held In Kiev In 2019 - Klimkin

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th November, 2018) The next session of the US-Ukraine Strategic Partnership Commission is scheduled to be held in Kiev the next year, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said.

On Friday, Klimkin and US State Secretary Mike Pompeo co-chaired the first commission session in years. The two diplomats agreed to resume the work of the commission at their talks in Paris earlier in November.

"This commission will meet in Kiev the next year," Klimkin told the Ukrainian 5 Kanal broadcaster late on Friday.

On Friday, the commission discussed a wide range of issues, including policies, security, countering the "Russian aggression" and economic cooperation, the foreign minister added.

As a result of the meeting, the parties endorsed a joint statement which will be made public later, according to Klimkin.

This document concerned Ukrainian-US cooperation on military equipment deliveries, the situation around Crimea and the embattled Ukrainian Donbas region as well as the Azov Sea crisis, Klimkin continued.

The commission might be held on the level of presidents only in case this was found appropriate by both sides, the diplomat pointed out.

Kiev and Washington have recently been maintaining the bilateral dialogue.

On the contrary, Ukraine's relations with Russia sharply deteriorated in 2014 following the eruption of the Donbas military conflict and Crimea's secession from Ukraine and its subsequent reunification with Russia as a result of a referendum. Kiev has repeatedly accused Moscow of meddling in its domestic affairs and pointed to the alleged Russian aggression. Russia has denied these allegations, noting it was not a side to the Ukrainian conflict and emphasizing that Crimea had become a part of Russia after over 96 percent of its voters supported the move at the plebiscite held in line with international standards.

The Azov sea crisis erupted this year after Ukraine detained a Russian vessel there prompting Moscow to boost controls in the area. The tensions further escalated in October when the Ukrainian parliament passed a draft law authorizing Kiev to expand maritime controls by 12 nautical miles off its southern coast, allegedly in an effort to counter smuggling in the Black Sea.