Prime Minister Joseph Muscat this morning held talks with the President of Ukraine, Victor Yanukovych, in Kiev. The two men signed a double taxation treaty.

Dr Muscat was accompanied by Foreign Minister George Vella and Parliamentary Secretary Edward Zammit Lewis.

Dr Muscat is expected to discuss a range of issues with the Ukrainian government including trade exchanges, investment and energy.

The Ukrainian media reported Dr Muscat as saying that Malta supports the signing of an association agreement between Ukraine and the EU at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius this November.

"We are here to formally support your plans to sign the Association Agreement with the EU, and we support the signing of this agreement at a summit in November," Dr Muscat was quoted as saying by Ukrinform.

Dr Muscat noted the issue of judicial reform and other problems that had blocked the signing of the association agreement and expressed hope that they would be resolved in the next few weeks.

Mr Yanukovych  thanked Malta for supporting Ukraine's European integration.

He said that Ukraine had always considered Malta as "a stable partner and friendly country." 

In July 2008, then Maltese President Eddie Fenech Adami and then Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko held talks and issued a joint statement in which they looked forward to further development of relations. They discussed trade exchanges.