Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko speaks during a joint press conference with his Latvian counterpart Raimonds Vejonis (unseen) after their meeting at the Riga castle in Latvia, April 4, 2017. (Xinhua/Janis)
RIGA, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Latvia's top state officials gave a nod to Ukraine's reform progress and called for a settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine during Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's official visit to the Baltic country on Tuesday.
While meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart in Riga, Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis stressed the importance of the EU's continued support to Ukraine's reforms, meanwhile praising the progress achieved by Ukraine so far.
"We know very well that any reform is complicated, so we are ready to share our experience to help the Ukrainian government carry out these reforms," Vejonis told reporters at a news conference after the talks.
Vejonis urged the international community to assist Ukraine in its efforts to stabilize the situation in the region.
The two countries are marking 25 years of establishing diplomatic relations this year.
Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis, who also met with the visiting Ukrainian president, said he was glad that Ukraine had managed to stabilize and fix its banking system and energy sector during the reform process, but stressed the need to reinforce and continue the reforms.
Kucinskis told Poroshenko he was happy about the growing economic cooperation between Latvia and Ukraine as trade between the two countries had been growing and Ukrainian investment flowing into Latvia in recent years. Ukraine has traditionally been an important trade partner for Latvia.
"I am also glad about Latvian entrepreneurs' activity in Ukraine, and it has the potential to increase if the business environment improves," Kucinskis said.
Meanwhile, the Latvian Foreign Ministry informed that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, who accompanied Poroshenko on his visit to Riga, met with Latvian counterpart Edgars Rinkevics, who praised the friendly relations and active dialogue between both countries.
Discussing preparations for the EU's upcoming Eastern Partnership Summit, the Latvian minister said that the summit should give a boost to the further implementation of reforms in Ukraine.
Rinkevics also voiced hope that the EU would make the decision quickly enough to lift the visa requirements for Ukraine by June this year.
