Munich: Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Saturday discussed advancing mutually beneficial cooperation between his country and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) during a meeting with the bloc's chief.

According to Anadolu Agency, the meeting took place on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, where Sybiha met with ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn. The discussions focused on advancing cooperation, deepening dialogue, and expanding practical engagement, particularly in areas such as food security, energy, and digitalization.

Sybiha emphasized the importance of ASEAN as a partner in the current international landscape and reiterated Ukraine's intention to become an ASEAN Sectoral Dialogue Partner. In a statement on the US social media platform X, Sybiha expressed Ukraine's commitment to strengthening ties with ASEAN and extended an invitation to the secretary-general to visit Ukraine.

ASEAN, in a separate statement on X, confirmed that both sides discussed ways to promote cooperation between the bloc and Ukraine. This dialogue comes after Ukraine signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, one of ASEAN's foundational documents, in November 2022.

Last month, the Philippine News Agency reported that Ukrainian Ambassador to the Philippines, Yuliia Fediv, indicated Kyiv's goal to become an official dialogue partner of ASEAN by the end of this year.