On April 15 Mr. Yurii Klymenko, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine met with Mr. Urs Schmid, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the Conference on Disarmament (CD).

Current state and prospects of cooperation between Ukraine and Switzerland in the framework of Geneva based arms control forums were discussed.

In particular, the parties noted the growing need for an appropriate implementation of initiatives aimed at restoring the substantive activity of the CD, with a view to start the negotiation process based on a balanced Program of Work, and outlined possible areas of cooperation under the Biological Weapons Convention, among others, in the context of raising awareness among life scientists about relevant international mechanisms.

At the same time, Y.Klymenko expressed Ukraine’s gratitude for the Swiss contribution to the NATO/PfP Trust Fund Project for the utilization of excess small arms and light weapons as well as anti-personnel mines in Ukraine.