President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi met with the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell as part of the first visit of the head of EU diplomacy to Ukraine. This was reported in the Office of the President.
During the meeting, key attention was paid to the issues of peaceful settlement in the east of Ukraine and the situation in the temporarily occupied Crimea. Josep Borrell was informed about the security situation in Donbass and the progress of implementation of the agreements reached during the Paris summit in the Normandy format.
Zelensky noted that during the trip of EU representatives to Donbass, planned this week, they will be able to see firsthand how the "quiet" regime is observed, in what conditions the Ukrainian military, etc., are serving.
The President emphasized the critical importance of keeping the theme of the deoccupation of Crimea in the focus of attention of the UN and the EU. The question of creating a negotiating platform for the deoccupation of the Crimean Peninsula was also raised.
"For us, the key issue is to create a permanent platform that raises, first of all, humanitarian issues, human rights issues, the issue of Ukrainians on the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea, in general, the issue of the return of our occupied territory," the head of state said.
Zelenskyi and Borrell also discussed preparations for the 22nd Ukraine-European Union Summit, which will be held on October 1 in Brussels. The President expressed the hope that the joint statement, which will be adopted as a result of the Summit, will properly reflect the level of ambitions of the parties to further deepen the strategic partnership and economic integration between Ukraine and the EU.
"The European Union is the largest, most powerful and reliable partner of Ukraine. We support Ukraine in terms of economic integration, but we also support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. I especially want to emphasize that we provide all possible powerful support to the reforms that are being implemented," Borrell said. He called the visit of EU representatives to Donbass as evidence of such support.
He also noted that the European Union will never recognize the occupation of Crimea and will not retreat from this position.
