Kiev-Chisinau Highway Construction and Establishing a Presidential Council. What Have Zelensky and Sandu Agreed on?

Presidents of Moldova and Ukraine Maia Sandu and Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to create a presidential council to resolve issues of bilateral relations, and also discussed the construction of a modern highway that will connect Kiev and Chisinau. They stated this at a briefing following the December 12 meeting. "We touched upon a complex of issues of Ukrainian-Moldovan relations. This is in particular a joint intention to renew the high-level dialogue, to make it dynamic and, most importantly, effective. To this end, we have agreed to create the presidential council, in the framework of which we will form a strategy and coordinate our actions to address the bilateral agenda tasks," Zelensky said. According to him, the parties came to an agreement that the priority spheres "for a joint economic impetus" between Ukraine and Moldova will be energy, infrastructure and transport, in particular transit. "We have an ambitious idea - the construction of a modern highway that will connect Kiev and Chisinau. To this end, we discussed the construction of a border crossing over the Dniester River. This will shorten the journey between the capitals of our states to five hours. We also discussed cooperation in the energy sector: increasing the volume of natural gas in Ukrainian storage facilities during transit of fuel through Moldova to Ukraine, transit of electricity from Ukraine to Romania through Moldova," the President of Ukraine added. Maia Sandu said that during the discussion with Volodymyr Zelensky the issues of ensuring security on the border between the countries, balanced trade development and issues related to the operation of the Dniester hydroelectric power center were raised. "It is very important to continue the dialogue between our countries to ensure the protection and sustainable use of the Dniester River, so that its water will serve both our and future generations," Sandu said. Sandu also stressed that Moldova supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. "The stability and security of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova are vital for both states. In this context, we reaffirmed our mutual and solid support for the peaceful resolution of conflicts based on respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our states within internationally recognized borders," she said. Following the meeting, the presidents of Moldova and Ukraine signed a joint statement and a memorandum on the development of transport and transit potential between the two countries. President of Moldova Maia Sandu holds  an official visit to Ukraine on January 12. This is Sandu's first overseas visit since the election, and the first visit of the President of Moldova to Kiev since 2015.