On Friday, 22 March, Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, and Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, coordinated further steps of cooperation in the field of Ukraine's European integration and support for the war-affected population.

The meeting also gathered together Dominique Hasler, President of the Committee of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Education and Sport of Liechtenstein; Maciej Janczak, Head of the CoE Office in Ukraine and others.

Olha Stefanishyna thanked the high-ranking officials for their consistent and steadfast support of Ukraine.

The official informed the participants about the progress in the negotiation process with the EU, in particular in terms of implementing the necessary recommendations for the negotiation framework.

"We have completed the implementation of the political recommendations and are starting a new path - the path of negotiations. In this process, it is crucial for us to be structured and accurate. Given that a significant part of our legal framework is based on Council of Europe conventions and human rights documents, we count on your support to successfully complete this process," said Olha Stefanishyna.

Marija Pejčinović Burić stressed the importance of Ukraine's efforts, even during the ongoing war, to bring the future of a democratic Ukraine in the European Union closer. She assured of her absolute support for the country's further transformations, including the negotiation process, In particular, in the context of the cluster that opens and closes negotiations - the "fundamentals" cluster.

Separate attention was paid to support for those affected by the war, as well as Ukraine's reconstruction efforts.

In this context, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe informed about the opening of the Office of the Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine in Kyiv.

Olha Stefanishyna underlined the efficiency of implementation of the agreements reached at the Council of Europe Summit in Reykjavik, which had laid the foundation for the Register of Damages. She noted that this was an important, practical step towards the functioning of the international Compensation Mechanism for victims of russian aggression.

"The Council of Europe has many bright examples of leadership during these difficult years of war. Every time we see such leadership, we realise that we are not alone in our struggle, and this doubles our energy and ability to fight. The Reykjavik Summit was one such example. The created Register is an important element in the future prosecution of those responsible for russia's crimes in Ukraine," the official said.

The Deputy Prime Minister also expressed hope that the registry would play a significant role in the use of frozen russian assets by Ukraine as part of the compensation.

Olha Stefanishyna also informed the officials about a pilot project of urgent interim reparations for victims of sexual violence. She expressed hope that the project will synchronise its efforts with the existing Register: "Justice must be served step by step right now. We are doing everything possible for this."

Marija Pejčinović Burić assured of her full commitment to the further implementation of the results of the Reykjavik Summit and cooperation with Ukraine.