Riyadh, Kiev cement relations with President Poroshenko’s Saudi visit

RIYADH: Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko hailed the strong relations between his country and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in official talks with King Salman on Wednesday.
Poroshenko said he hoped to strengthen and develop these relations in all areas, including the economic and investment fields.
During the session at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh, King Salman and Poroshenko reviewed bilateral relations and aspects of cooperation between the two countries. They also attended a signing ceremony of a draft cooperation program and memoranda of understanding (MoU) between the two countries.
Before the signing ceremony, King Salman decorated the president with the King Abdul Aziz necklace medal, and received the Order of Yaroslav the Wise of First Class, which is the highest order in Ukraine.
Then, an MoU for investment cooperation in the field of agriculture was co-signed by the Saudi Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadhli, and the Ukrainian Acting Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Maxime Martinok.
A draft cooperation program between the Prince Saud Al-Faisal Institute for Diplomatic Studies and the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine was co-signed by Saudi Foreign Minister Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin.
An MoU for cooperation and exchanging news between the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) and the Ukrainian News Agency was co-signed by the SPA President Abdullah bin Fahd Al-Hussain and the Director General of the Ukrainian News Agency Alexander Kharchenko.
The signing ceremony was attended by a number of princes in addition to Saudi and Ukrainian ministers and senior officials.
Later, Poroshenko received the supervisor of the Public Investment Fund, Yasir bin Othman Al-Rumayyan.