国际英语新闻:Turkey, Ukraine vow to boost cooperation amid COVID-19 pandemic

ISTANBUL, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday pledged to enhance cooperation in a wide range of areas amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Ukraine and Turkey are ready to develop their strategic partnership in every field in which they have mutual benefits," Erdogan told reporters at a joint press conference in Istanbul.

The Turkish leader said the two countries have been taking steps for a trade volume of 10 billion U.S. dollars shortly, noting the recent developments in the field of tourism are promising.

"Despite the global pandemic, we hosted more than 500,000 Ukrainian guests this year, which clearly shows the closeness among our peoples and the trust of our Ukrainian guests in the measures we have taken as part of our safe tourism initiative," Erdogan said.

The leaders also agreed to conclude the free trade agreement negotiations between the two countries in short order, according to the Turkish president.

Zelensky, for his part, said the number of Turkish companies involved in infrastructure projects in Ukraine should increase.

"I would like to note that we have very similar approaches regarding the energy investments," he said, noting the dialogue between the two countries continues dynamically despite the pandemic.