Victor Yushchenko and Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia held a
joint press conference in Tbilisi on Thursday after meeting one-on-one and
chairing Ukrainian-Georgian talks, president's press office reported.
The Ukrainian leader said the two countries “considerably
reinforced” economic ties last year, with the trade rate reaching USD 500 mln in
2006.
“It is our key priority now to sign a free trade agreement,” he
said, adding that it contained only two problematic issues, which he hopes to
resolve “easily.”
Yushchenko said they had discussed how to build a railroad
to connect Baku, Tbilisi and Kars, and open a ferryboat route between the
Ukrainian port of Kerch and Georgia’s Batumi. They also spoke about regional
cooperation and energy issues, particularly creating a Eurasian oil corridor.
“I would like to reiterate that our relationship with Georgia
is a special relationship,” he said.
Yushchenko and Saakashvili agreed to develop
humanitarian and cultural ties. The Ukrainian president suggested launching an
exchange program so that Georgian students could study in Ukraine. He expressed
hopes that this year’s Year of Georgia in Ukraine would help enhance our
cooperation. He then thanked Tbilisi National University for opening a Ukrainian
literature and philology department and welcomed tomorrow’s opening of a
monument honoring the Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko.
The two leaders also spoke about international issues,
especially Georgia’s relations with Russia.
Mikhail Saakashvili described his country’s economic
cooperation with Ukraine as an “example of how two countries can cooperate.”
“We see only friends in Ukraine,” he said.
