Priorities in relations with the administration of the new President of the United States include the maintenance of the territorial integrity and the return of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, intensification of economic cooperation and fight against corruption. This was stated by Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Ihor Zhovkva in an interview for TCH.ua.
"First of all, this is the support of the United States for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and, in particular, military assistance. This issue was important for Ukraine under all US administrations. And the next defense budget provides for the same amount of military assistance, and, very importantly, increased funding for the supply of lethal weapons to Ukraine. Of course, we assume that this issue will remain a priority for the new US administration," he said.
Ihor Zhovkva noted that another priority is active involvement of the United States in the process of resolving the situation in Donbas and deoccupation of Crimea.
"We can talk a lot about the formats of this involvement, the definition of possible certain positions, etc., but we can say with absolute certainty that this issue will definitely be on the radar of the new administration. There is no reason to doubt this," he said.
According to the Deputy Head of the Office of the President, the economic bloc should remain one of the priorities on the agenda of bilateral relations between Ukraine and the United States.
"Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to increase trade turnover. We must continue to implement existing projects. It is important that Ukraine's energy independence is also ensured by the United States. The agricultural sector is traditional for our relations. New areas, such as IT, artificial intelligence - we can also talk about them," Ihor Zhovkva noted.
The Deputy Head of the Office of the President believes that the issue of fighting corruption is an equally important priority in relations with the United States.
"Here we will definitely be allies of President Biden in the implementation of anticorruption measures in Ukraine. President Zelenskyy is definitely the best interlocutor for the President of the United States in this issue when it comes to Ukraine," he stressed.
The Deputy Head of the Office of the President added that Ukraine is preparing a strategic document, a certain "road map" of relations with the United States.
Ihor Zhovkva also said that at the inauguration of the new US President, Ukraine will be officially represented at the level of ambassador, like all other countries.