Trilateral projects in humanitarian demining: Ukraine proposes new formats of cooperation to partners

Ukraine is interested in developing cooperation with NATO in the field of humanitarian demining, in particular through the implementation of joint projects with the Alliance.

This was stated by the Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture, Ihor Bezkaravainyi, during his visit to Brussels to participate in the Defence and Security Sector Committee as part of the activities of the NATO-Ukraine Council. During the event, a bilateral meeting was held with the Acting NATO Assistant Secretary General, Piers Cazalet.

“Ukraine possesses unique expertise in humanitarian demining, and joint programmes with countries facing similar challenges offer an opportunity both to strengthen our own expertise and to share it with partners. This is not a straightforward adoption of experience, but rather an adaptation to national specificities, capabilities and so on. I believe that Ukraine’s experience in mine action can be useful for NATO member countries and Alliance partners,” noted Ihor Bezkaravainyi.

Ukraine already has experience of trilateral cooperation involving the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Colombia’s Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic (DAPRE), which coordinates efforts to reduce the impact of explosive devices on communities.

The possibility of implementing trilateral projects for experience exchange was also discussed by Ihor Bezkaravainyi with the Director General for Multilateral Affairs at the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Véronique Petit. This approach helps to build long-term national capacity in countries affected by mines, rather than relying solely on external stakeholders.