The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has expressed the determination of his country to strengthen the existing bilateral relations with Nigeria despite the ravaging war between her and Russia.
Zelenskyy made this known in his congratulatory message to the Nigeria’s President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on his election victory where he also invited him to Ukraine on a state visit.
The Ukrainian leader wants the president-elect to visit Ukraine on a state visit after his inauguration on May 29.
The felicitation and Invite are coming two months after the former Lagos governor and All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate was declared winner of the February 25 presidential election.
Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and his counterpart in Labour Party, Peter Obi, who scored 6,984,520 and 6,101,533 votes respectively.
In Zelenskyy congratulatory message, he praised Tinubu over his victory, adding that his war-ravaged country is determined to further strengthen cooperation with Nigeria.
His letter read, “Please accept my sincere congratulations on your election as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Despite extremely difficult testing times, caused by the full-scale armed aggression of Russia against our state, Ukraine is determined to further strengthen cooperation with Nigeria at the bilateral level and within the framework of international organizations.
“We are grateful for your country’s support of the Resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization “Principles of the UN Charter underlying a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace in Ukraine.
“I count on the active participation of Nigeria in its practical implementation. We see the further provision of global food security, of which Ukraine was and remains a reliable guarantor at the global level, as an important direction of cooperation.
“The fulfilment of this task will be facilitated by the successful implementation of the Ukrainian initiative “Grain from Ukraine”, which is designed to significantly increase the supply of grain to African countries in order to prevent famine.
“Taking this opportunity, I invite you to pay an official visit to Ukraine at a time convenient for you.
“I am confident that your visit will strengthen the dialogue between our countries and contribute to further consolidation of joint efforts of the international community aimed at solving the urgent challenges of today, in particular the crisis situation caused by Russia regarding the guarantee of world food security.”
