The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine welcomes the holding of the 20th EU-Central Asia Ministerial Meeting in Ashgabat on March 27, 2025.

Ukraine highly appreciates the gradual and consistent deepening of cooperation between the EU and the countries of Central Asia and looks forward to the active involvement of our country in this process.

In the context of granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for accession to the European Union, our country is a natural participant in this dialogue, given its geographical, political, economic and security integration into regional processes. We would like to emphasize Ukraine's significant contribution to global security, including food security, through the implementation of humanitarian initiatives such as Grain from Ukraine.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine welcomes the clear statement in the final communiqué of the meeting reaffirming the participants' commitment to the principles of the UN Charter, respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of states within internationally recognized borders.

We welcome the commitment of the EU and Central Asian states to make every effort to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine. Such statements are of particular importance in the context of the ongoing full-scale aggression of the russian federation.

We emphasize the importance of further maintaining and strengthening the EU's sanctions pressure on the aggressor, as well as the responsible attitude of the Central Asian states to comply with the sanctions regime.

We highly appreciate the willingness of the parties to continue coordination in preventing the circumvention of sanctions, in particular through the re-export of high-priority and dual-use goods.

Ukraine is ready to actively participate in the development of modern transport and logistics routes and energy supply infrastructure together with the EU and Central Asian countries. Given our strategic location, Ukraine is an integral part of the Trans-Caspian Corridor.

We are committed to engaging in the formation and development of sustainable and diversified trade routes of strategic importance for the whole continent.

We are committed to effective participation in the implementation of joint initiatives to strengthen security and stability in Central Asia. We pay special attention to the Afghanistan settlement, the fight against climate change, sustainable water supply and the development of green energy, in close coordination with European and regional partners.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expresses its interest in further institutionalized deepening of cooperation in the EU-Ukraine-Central Asia format. We positively assess the growing openness to trilateral cooperation and look forward to the high-quality preparation and holding of the first EU-Central Asia Summit to be held on April 4, 2025 in Samarkand, Republic of Uzbekistan.