The delegation of the Ukrainian Government began its first working visit to Latin America with talks in Argentina. Meetings were held with Vice President of Argentina Victoria Villarruel, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship Diana Mondino, Minister of Security Patricia Bullrich, Minister of Economy Luis Caputo, Minister of Defence Luis Petri.

The Ukrainian delegation included Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Oleksandr Kamyshin, Minister for Strategic Industries of Ukraine, Dmytro Klimenkov, Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine, and Mykhailo Spasov, Representative of the Commissioner for Equal Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities of Political and Religious Views.

“This working visit is a continuation of the dialogue initiated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy with President of Argentina Javier Milei. The agenda includes the first Global Peace Summit initiated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, strengthening business ties, deepening cooperation in the defence sector, and support for the Ukrainian energy system amid russia’s systematic shelling of our energy facilities,” Yuliia Svyrydenko said following her visit to Argentina.

Ukraine invited the leaders of Argentina to join the first Global Peace Summit.

“We discussed with the country’s leadership the format of participation in the Global Peace Summit. The success of the summit and the global presence of Latin American countries will be a clear signal that the world does not support the war initiated by terrorist russia. We have invited Argentina to become co-leaders of the working group on one of the points of the Peace Formula,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

According to her, both Ukraine and Argentina are interested in deepening business cooperation. In particular, a meeting was held between the co-chairs of the Joint Ukrainian-Argentine Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation, Minister for Strategic Industries of Ukraine Oleksandr Kamyshin and Secretary of International Economic Relations at the Argentine Foreign Ministry Marcelo Cima. During the meeting, the parties agreed to hold a meeting of the intergovernmental commission in October 2024. The last meeting was held 18 years ago. In addition, the possibility of holding a Ukrainian-Argentine business forum is being considered.

Representatives of the Ministry of Economy also met with the Argentine Chamber of Commerce and Services (CAC) and the Argentine-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CAUCI).

“We invited businesses to join the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin. We know that there is already interest from companies from the pharmaceutical, agricultural and processing sectors that want to deepen cooperation with Ukraine. The free trade agreement with Argentina, which we are currently working on, may also contribute to this. Cooperation with Argentina is reaching a qualitatively new level. This country is the leader of the strategically important Latin American region for us, so strengthening Ukraine’s presence on the agenda is a contribution to the development of both business ties and security projects,” Yuliia Svyrydenko summed up.

The First Deputy Prime Minister added that Argentina was actively helping Ukraine. 16 humanitarian aid packages worth USD 600,000 have already been provided. Ukrainians living in Argentina are also being supported. Currently, up to half a million Ukrainians live in the country.