President Moon Jae-in spoke on the phone with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at the request of the Ukrainian President, for about 25 minutes from 5:00 p.m. today.

President Moon began by expressing sympathy and condolences for the recent occurrence of a considerable number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and related deaths in Ukraine. He went on to stress that the international community’s cooperation and solidarity in response to COVID-19 is more urgent than ever. The President further explained that, under these circumstances, Korea had suffered the spread of the virus earlier than Europe and has accumulated relatively more abundant experience and clinical data, promising to actively share these with the international community, including Ukraine.

Moreover, President Moon highlighted the importance of allowing businesspeople and other essential personnel to travel at a reasonable level in the context of international collaboration to prevent the world economy from contracting, saying that a relevant consensus was reached at the extraordinary virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit. The President expressed the hope that economic exchanges between Korea and Ukraine, including the movements of essential businesspeople, would continue despite the COVID-19 outbreak.

President Zelenskyy noted that the Republic of Korea appears to have entered a period of stabilization thanks to its Government’s swift and transparent responses to the COVID-19 outbreak. He said that unlike Korea, however, Ukraine is not in a stage of stabilization and that the next one or two weeks will be a critical juncture. The Ukrainian President added that, for this reason, he hopes that the Republic of Korea will share its experience and approaches, requesting assistance with acquiring Korea-made COVID-19 diagnostic kits and related medical supplies.

President Moon said, “If Ukraine informs us of it specific requests, we will examine how to provide substantive assistance while taking our domestic supply and demand situation into consideration.” 

President Zelenskyy was eager to mention one accomplishment made today: a personally issued directive had made it possible for Korean nationals to board a Ukrainian cargo plane bound for their home country.

The Ukrainian President said that the two countries can further improve their cooperative relations - which have continued to make progress since they established diplomatic relations in 1992 - by successfully surmounting the COVID-19 outbreak together. Then, he extended his invitation for President Moon to visit Ukraine within this year.

President Moon expressed his gratitude for the invitation and suggested that the details be discussed through diplomatic channels.