On 12 March 2020, the Under Secretary of State and Political Director, Jānis Mažeiks, was on a working visit in Ukraine, where he met with the Acting Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andrii Beshta, for a discussion on Latvian-Ukrainian bilateral cooperation, cooperation between the European Union (EU) and Ukraine, energy security, as well as the military conflict in the east of Ukraine and the illegal annexation of Crimea.
In a discussion on security-related matters, Jānis Mažeiks expressed Latvia’s strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. The Political Director underlined that the sanctions policy vis-à-vis Russia must remain in place until the Minsk agreements have been fully implemented. Jānis Mažeiks welcomed Ukraine’s activities in international institutions aimed at fostering a common understanding of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and human rights violations in Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia.
In a discussion on the relations between Ukraine and the EU, the Political Director underlined Latvia’s support for Ukraine’s efforts at Euro-Atlantic integration; he underlined that Ukraine should move ahead with the implementation of reforms and work actively towards introduction of EU standards.
The Political Director commended reforms launched by Ukraine in the energy sector. He agreed with his Ukrainian colleague that Nord Stream 2 is a project of a political nature, and the EU Gas Directive should also be fully applied to these gas transmission pipelines.
The Latvian and Ukrainian officials were of one mind concerning the need to continue the active political dialogue and deepening economic cooperation.
During the visit, Jānis Mažeiks met with several Ukrainian domestic policy experts, gave an interview to the Glavcom news agency and laid flowers to commemorate those who died in the Maidan protests.