Senator the Honourable Dr. Amery Browne, Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs held discussions with His Excellency Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago during a meeting on 18th October, 2024 at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs.
The meeting was marked by the continuation of discussions on developments in the Russian war against Ukraine. The Minister and the Ambassador also touched on the efforts to achieve peace, in particular, following the first Summit on Peace in Ukraine, which took place in Switzerland on 15th to 16th June, 2024.
During the exchange, Minister Browne assured the Ambassador that Trinidad and Tobago maintained condemnation of the ongoing Russian aggression. Trinidad and Tobago, in keeping with its foreign policy, has consistently committed to territorial integrity of sovereign states, has aligned itself on the side of peace and continues to call for the use of all available diplomatic channels to end the violence against Ukraine.
The Minister also emphasized that the horror and condemnation that witnesses to the war have felt was not only a Trinidad and Tobago view but a CARICOM one. He underlined that the Caribbean Community maintains the position that the ongoing hostility was a violation of territorial integrity and Heads of Government of CARICOM continue to lament on the loss of life.
During the discussions, Ambassador Kyslytsya congratulated Trinidad and Tobago on the recent successful term of His Excellency Dennis Francis, Trinidad and Tobago’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, as President of the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Trinidad and Tobago’s bid to secure a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for the period 2027 to 2028 was also discussed.
On Wednesday 16th October, 2024, Minister Browne attended the screening of the poignant and moving Academy Award winning film “20 Days in Mariupol”, which was hosted by Ambassador Kyslytsya at Theatre 1, UTT Campus, NAPA. The Minister thanked the Ambassador for hosting the screening, and remarked that seeing the reality of the war on film was both “troubling and disturbing”.
Trinidad and Tobago and Ukraine have enjoyed diplomatic relations since 29th September 1999.
