ABIDJAN, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine on Thursday inaugurated an embassy in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, in an attempt to expand its diplomatic presence in Africa.
"The opening of the embassy in Cote d'Ivoire, a country rightly considered one of the leaders in the West African region, is explained above all by our desire to intensify global cooperation with our Ivorian partners," said Maksym Soubkh, Ukraine's special representative for the Middle East and Africa, while inaugurating the embassy.
Ukraine intends to increase its cooperation with Cote d'Ivoire in such areas as trade, agriculture, industry, energy, education and information technologies, he said.
The Ukrainian official said that the inauguration represents a successful implementation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's instruction to expand Ukraine's diplomatic presence in Africa. ■