Ukraine opens 7 new embassies in Africa over past year

Ukraine's Special Representative for the Middle East and Africa Maksym Subkh told Espreso's Natalia Starepravo.

During the second international conference Crimea Global. Understanding Ukraine through the South, Subkh said that over the past year, seven new Ukrainian embassies have appeared in Africa.

"Over the past year, we have opened seven new embassies in Africa. We are talking about the so-called Sub-Saharan Africa region, with which Ukraine has historically had no active ties and no active political, trade and economic partnership. That is why we now have 17 permanent embassies of Ukraine in Africa, where both our embassies and our diplomats are physically present," the special representative said.

He added that Kyiv plans to open at least two new embassies in Africa in the near future.

According to Subkh, new foreign diplomatic missions will also appear in Asia.

"I will not name the countries now, because this is a process that requires communication through diplomatic channels, and the opening of an embassy can only be announced when these countries agree... This trend (of opening embassies - ed.) is not situational. I mean the desire and position of the President of Ukraine and the Foreign Ministry that there should be more Ukraine in the world, Ukraine should be present on all continents. We have the potential for this," the diplomat emphasized.

Subkh also recalled President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's words that by the end of 2024, there will be important appointments of heads of Ukraine's foreign diplomatic missions.

• On December 27, 2023, Ukraine opened the Ukrainian Embassy in Accra, the capital of Ghana, a state in Africa.
• On May 24, 2024, the Embassy of Ukraine in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania began its work.