On Friday, 6 February, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andrii Sybiha, took part in an extraordinary meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

At the meeting, the Cabinet adopted the Resolution “On the Approval of the Strategy for Ensuring National Interests and the Development of Ukraine’s Activities in Antarctica, the Arctic, and the World Ocean for 2026–2035, and the Approval of the Operational Action Plan for the Implementation of the Strategy for 2026–2028.”

The initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to develop and adopt the Strategy was supported by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and was made possible through close cooperation with relevant ministries and agencies, including the National Antarctic Scientific Center. The Minister expressed his gratitude for the support of the initiative to Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko and fellow members of the Government.

“It is symbolic that the Strategy was adopted on this very date. Exactly 30 years ago, on 6 February 1996, the flag of Ukraine was officially raised for the first time over the Antarctic station Akademik Vernadskyi, which Ukraine received from the United Kingdom. At that moment, Ukraine joined the group of around thirty countries with a permanent presence on the Antarctic continent and the corresponding scientific research capabilities,” the Minister noted.

According to Andrii Sybiha, the adoption of the Strategy on the 30th anniversary of the official opening of Ukraine’s Antarctic station Akademik Vernadskyi underscores Ukraine’s global role as a state actively engaged in polar regions and contributing to the advancement of science, climate research, biology, and geophysics.

“The systematic presence of our state in the regions of Antarctica, the Arctic, and the World Ocean is of significant strategic and geopolitical importance. It creates additional foreign policy instruments, strengthens Ukraine’s national security, enhances our country’s position on the global stage, and contributes to countering the aggressive policies of the Russian Federation in these regions,” the Minister stated.

Andrii Sybiha emphasized that the implementation of the tasks outlined in the Strategy over the next ten years will enable Ukraine to strengthen its position in Antarctica and begin active engagement in the Arctic. The adoption of a dedicated strategic document places Ukraine among countries that have recently adopted and are implementing similar polar strategies, including Poland, Germany, France, and the Netherlands. The Strategy will also contribute, in the long term, to the development of living resources of the World Ocean and the exploration of polymetallic nodules on the seabed.

“Such steps demonstrate our maturity as a state that takes a long-term strategic approach in key regions and policy areas. This consistency, foresight, and long-term vision in foreign policy are critically important both for countering the aggressor and for safeguarding Ukraine’s strategic national interests in the long run,” the Minister for Foreign Affairs underscored.