Visiting Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko hailed as “historic” the signing Monday of a free trade agreement with Israel that has been negotiated for the last 15 years.
“Today is a historic day in Jerusalem,” Poroshenko wrote on his Twitter account. “For many years hundreds of bureaucrats have attempted to prepare this agreement that will make the lives of our countries better.”
The signing of the 1,500-page agreement, which took place before a dinner he and his wife, Maryna, had with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “brings our cooperation to a new level. We eliminate existing trade barriers, give companies from Ukraine and Israel wider access to markets, and further activate business activities.”
Poroshenko said the agreement will reduce the price of Ukrainian food in Israel and Israeli goods in Ukraine. The expectation is that this deal will bring trade between the two countries to over $1 billion within five years. This is Israel’s ninth free trade agreement.
The Ukrainian leader, facing elections on March 30 and currently lagging well behind in the polls, arrived on Sunday evening to take part in the signing of the agreement during a 30-hour visit to the country.
This is his third visit since taking office in 2014, and Netanyahu said before their meeting that this was a “testament to the strong relations” between Ukraine and Israel. This is particularly significant considering that Ukraine is currently engaged in a war with Russia, and Israel and Russia have a strong relationship.
Poroshenko said Israel and Ukraine are well coordinated regarding votes in the international arena, and thanked Israel for its support. In December, Israel voted with Ukraine on a UN General Assembly resolution that called for an end to Russia’s occupation and militarization of Crimea.
Since Ukraine infuriated Israel in 2016 by voting for an anti-settlement resolution in the UN Security Council, it has supported Israel in some key votes, including in UNESCO, and in the UN General Assembly in December when it voted to condemn Hamas.
The Ukrainian press reported that during a meeting with President Reuven Rivlin, Poroshenko asked the president to help facilitate the release of some two dozen Ukrainian sailors captured by Russia in November as they tried to pass through the Kerch Strait, a narrow water passageway separating Crimea from Russia.
Rivlin voiced appreciation for Ukraine’s stand against Hamas in the United Nations, and expressed the hope that Ukraine would also speak up on behalf of Israel in the UN Human Rights Council.
Rivlin thanked Poroshenko for his support in the fight against antisemitism, as well as for establishing a museum at Babi Yar, where more than 33,000 Jews were massacred during the Holocaust.
