Lisbon, Jan. 13, 2021 (Lusa) - Portugal's president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, has invited his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, to visit Portugal during the first quarter of the year, during the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union.

According to a note published on his web page, the Portuguese and Ukrainian presidents chatted for one hour.

During the conversation, Volodymyr Zelensky "renewed the invitation to his Portuguese counterpart for an official visit to Ukraine", to which Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa responded with an invitation "to visit Portugal during the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2021".

The Ukrainian President "congratulated his colleague on the start of the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union" and stressed that Kyiv "counts on the cooperation and support of the Portuguese presidency in the implementation of the 22nd Ukraine-EU Summit agreements".

Among the various subjects that were discussed, the leaders of Portugal and Ukraine talked about "the intensification of trade and economic cooperation" between the two countries as well as "the continuation of the dialogue at the highest level".

"I am optimistic about the increase in our countries' trade", Zelensky aid.

"The two sides have agreed to hold a third meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation as soon as possible", he added.

The pandemic was not left out of the conversation, and the Ukrainian president "raised the issue of solidarity-based distribution of the certified vaccine and the possibility of obtaining it in Ukraine in the near future".

The communiqué also stated that De Sousa "recalled that Ukraine and Portugal are part of Europe" and therefore "supports the aspirations for European integration" of that eastern country.

The integration of Ukraine into NATO was also discussed in the conversation.

AFE/ADB // ADB.

Lusa