UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said that the first steps of the Ukrainian Chairmanship of the OSCE have confirmed the importance of the country's role on the international arena and in the European region.

The UN secretary-general said this at a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara during the latter's visit to New York, the ministry's information policy department reported on Wednesday.

"Having exchanged the views on the priorities of the Ukrainian chairmanship, the parties noted that the two international organizations had many common topics and outlined promising areas of cooperation between them," the statement reads.

In addition, the UN secretary-general again noted Ukraine's contribution to global nuclear security and disarmament, and praised Kyiv's peacekeeping efforts.