Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his
Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych have affirmed significance of
freshly-signed accords between the two countries namely an agreement for
setting up a a joint free trade zone. The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported on Saturday that the two
presidents held very successful talks in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, late on
Friday, and quoted Al-Assad as saying that the free trade zone accord would be
signed by the end of February. It also quoted the Syrian president as saying that the Syrian and the
Ukrainian sides signed two other agreements for cooperation in the maritime
transports, indicating that other accords would be also signed in various
fields soon. Al-Assad stressed the importance of renewing "traditional relations"
between the two countries, referring to the new generations bearing the two
cultures and entering the job market in both countries. The President said that Ukraine's important position encourages us for
long-term strategic cooperation that starts with political cooperation,
consultation and coordination, and ends in the Free Trade Zone between the two
countries.


"This (FTZ) will open the doors widely before the Syrian-Ukrainian
relationship and will enhance the relationship between the two regions. This
is why we focused today in the first place on the transport issue,
particularly sea and air transport, as it is the basis for developing the
relationship," said Al-Assad. "This relationship and those agreements open wide doors for cooperation and
open a door for Syria toward the Baltics in the north and for Ukraine toward
the Red Sea and the Gulf in the south," the President said.
The Ukrainian President said, "Today, we outlined with President Al-Assad
the most important spheres in which we should cooperate. I think we have laid
the bases for this cooperation. Ukraine considers Syria as a promising and the
most important partner in the world and in the Middle East."
"We also agreed on the necessity of activating the bilateral cooperation on
the scientific, technical, economic and humanitarian levels. We see there are
wide opportunities and prospects to activate this cooperation in the field of
transport, and to link the five seas so that we can connect these areas with a
ramified network."
The President pointed out to the role of the Syrian-Ukrainian Joint

Committee in the scientific and technical domains and its future outcomes.
President Yanukovych continued saying "We also discussed the urgent
international issues and the situations in the Middle East as well as the
cooperation among the international organizations."

Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)