Ukraine and Turkey signed a bilateral agreement on establishing an electronic preliminary information exchange system regarding goods and vehicles moved between the two states, the President’s Office’s press service reported on March 8.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat signed the document after the meeting of President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul.
Ukraine's State Customs Service and Turkey's Trade Ministry will exchange information to accelerate the movement of goods and vehicles across the borders of both states, as well as combating customs violations, according to the agreement.
After the meeting with Erdogan, Zelensky also said that "several important documents were signed" at the level of Ukraine’s and Turkey’s Defense Ministries.
Zelensky added that during his visit to Istanbul, he met the representatives of the local defense industry.
"We are ready to move as quickly as possible to realize the projects we have discussed,” the President said.
"I am delighted with the talks with Turkish companies and businesses, therefore, I am confident that the results will be great, without a doubt."
This was the first visit of Zelensky to Turkey since July 2023, when the President brought home five commanding officers who defended the Azovstal plant in Mariupol and had been kept in Turkey under the personal guarantees of Erdogan after a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia.
During this visit, Zelensky also discussed with Erdogan Ukraine's peace formula and the safety of navigation in the Black Sea and urged to release Ukrainian prisoners, including Crimean Tatars, from Russian captivity.
Andrea Januta
