Yushchenko thanks Ilham Aliyev for his support of Ukraine

Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has expressed gratitude to Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev and the people of Azerbaijan for their support of Ukraine, humanitarian aid, rehabilitation programs for Ukrainian children, and respect for the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity, Report informs.

Yushchenko wrote a Facebook post dedicated to his recent visit to Baku.

"President Ilham Aliyev and I have been united by over 20 years of personal friendship and joint work to strengthen relations between Ukraine and Azerbaijan... I cherish our friendship and am convinced that the strategic partnership, mutual trust, and respect between Ukraine and Azerbaijan will continue to translate into important joint endeavors," he emphasized.

The former president noted that the era of his friendship with the Azerbaijani people began with his meeting and establishing friendly relations with national leader Heydar Aliyev in 1989 in Nakhchivan.

Yushchenko added that an important result of this work was the formalization of the strategic partnership between the two countries.

He recalled that on May 22, 2008, during Ilham Aliyev's official visit to Kyiv, the Declaration of Friendship and Strategic Partnership between Baku and Kyiv was signed.

"This document defined the strategic nature of our bilateral relations and laid a solid foundation for their further development. <...> During this meeting, we discussed the present and future of our countries, the development of bilateral cooperation, and specific projects that our teams will continue to develop," Yushchenko concluded.