Riyadh – Saudi Arabia and Ukraine signed a draft cooperation program and memoranda of understanding (MoU) following the summit between Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.
Earlier, King Salman and Poroshenko held a session of official talks at al-Yammamah Palace, where they reviewed bilateral relations and aspects of cooperation between the two countries in various fields. They also discussed the latest developments at regional and international arenas.
Before the signing ceremony, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques granted Poroshenko the King Abdulaziz Necklace Medal in recognition of his Excellency, and in recognition of the King, Ukraine’s president granted the Custodian Order of Yaroslav the Wise of First Class, which is the highest order in Ukraine.
The session was attended by a number of princes in addition to a number of Saudi and Ukrainian ministers and senior officials.
Then, Saudi Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdurrahman bin Abdulmohsen al-Fadhli signed an MoU for investment cooperation in agriculture with Ukrainian Acting Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Maxime Martinok.
In addition, Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir and Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin co-signed a draft cooperation program between Prince Saud al-Faisal Institute for Diplomatic Studies and Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine.
Another MoU for cooperation and exchanging news was co-signed between the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) and the Ukrainian News Agency by President of SPA Abdullah bin Fahd al-Hussain and Director General of the Ukrainian News Agency Alexander Kharchenko.
The signing ceremony was attended by: Governor of Riyadh Region Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Minister of State and Member of the Cabinet Prince Mansour bin Miteb bin Abdulaziz, Minister of the National Guard Prince Miteb bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Interior Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, Minister of State and Member of the Cabinet Massed bin Mohammed al-Ayban, Minister of State and Member of the Cabinet Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz al-Assaf, Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdurrahman bin Abdulmohsen al-Fadhli, Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir, Minister of Finance Mohamed bin Abdullah al-Jadaan, and Saudi Ambassador to Ukraine Jaidaie al-Hazzal.
The Ukrainian delegation at the signing ceremony included: Head of Presidential Administration Ihor Rainin, Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine Kostiantyn Yelisieiev, Secretary of the National Investment Council of Ukraine (NIC) Borys Lozhkin, Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for the Affairs of Crimean Tatars Mustafa Dzhemilev, and Ukrainian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Vadym Vakhrushev.
Poroshenko arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. He was received at King Khalid International Airport by Deputy Governor of Riyadh Region Prince Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdulrahman al-Fadhli, the accompanying escort minister, Saudi Ambassador to Ukraine Jaidaie al-Hazzal and his Ukrainian counterpart Vadym Vakhrushev.
King Salman received the President where an official reception ceremony was held in his honor and the accompanying delegation. Then, the Custodian held a luncheon in honor of the president which was attended attended by a number of princes, ministers and senior military and civil officials in addition to Poroshenko's accompanying delegation.
