Cooperation in the field of humanitarian demining in Ukraine and coordination of efforts were discussed during a meeting between Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, and Ignazio Cassis, Federal Counsellor for Foreign Affairs of Switzerland.

The meeting took place in the framework of the First International Donors' Conference on Humanitarian Demining in Ukraine in Zagreb on 11 October.

The Swiss government will allocate over EUR 100 million for humanitarian demining in Ukraine over the next four years. During the meeting, the parties discussed the needs and areas for funding, as well as Ukraine's priorities in the field of demining.

According to Yuliia Svyrydenko, Ukraine is following the international system of demining priorities in planning its work. The first priority is to inspect critical infrastructure, such as gas pipelines and power lines. The second priority is the safety of citizens, the inspection of houses. The third is agricultural land. And finally, forests and surface and underwater demining.

"The scale of contamination of Ukraine with mines and unexploded ordnance is unprecedented and the largest since the Second World War. Our country cannot solve this problem alone. And we are very grateful to the Swiss government for the assistance and support that Ukraine is receiving in this area," said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

Ignazio Cassis, for his part, said that Switzerland was ready to continue working closely with the Ukrainian government on humanitarian demining. According to him, the Swiss government plans to host the Second International Donors’ Conference on Humanitarian Demining in Ukraine next year.

As a reminder, the First International Donors’ Conference on Humanitarian Demining in Ukraine, held in Croatia, was attended by more than 40 foreign country representatives, including defence and foreign affairs ministers, ambassadors, and leaders of foreign organizations. The Ukrainian delegation was headed by Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine.

As a result of the event, a number of countries announced support for humanitarian demining in Ukraine. Taking into account the funds previously received for demining and other war-related challenges, and including the new assistance packages announced at the Conference, the support reaches almost half a billion euros.