Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko welcomes the signing of an agreement on readmission between Ukraine and Belarus.

"Separately, I would like to thank for the signing of an agreement on readmission between Ukraine and Belarus. This will definitely help minimize the negative consequences caused by illegal migration and increase the effectiveness of the joint Ukrainian-Belarusian struggle against it," he said at the First Forum of the Regions of Ukraine and Belarus in Gomel on Friday.

According to the press service of the head of the Ukrainian state, the purpose of the readmission agreement is to create the legal grounds needed to establish and develop intergovernmental cooperation in the field of readmission of persons to minimize the negative consequences of illegal migration and improve the effectiveness of joint struggle against this phenomenon by improving the legal regulation of this activity.

The agreement on the basis of reciprocity determines the rapid and effective procedures for identification, safe and organized return of persons staying in the territories of Ukraine and Belarus illegally.

The signing of the agreement will contribute to the further development of good-neighborly relations between Ukraine and Belarus, as well as Ukraine's compliance with its obligations to the world community to introduce effective instruments for the implementation of state policy in the field of readmission of persons.

The document was signed by Head of the State Migration Service of Ukraine Maksym Sokoliuk and Belarusian Interior Minister Igor Shunevich.

In addition, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and his Belarusian counterpart Vladimir Makei signed a plan of consultations between the foreign ministries of Ukraine and Belarus for 2018-2019. The document was signed for the purpose of interaction between the two countries' foreign affairs agencies through bilateral consultations during this period.

Klimkin and First Deputy Minister of Sports and Tourism of Belarus Vyacheslav Durnov also signed an agreement between the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and the Ministry of Sports and Tourism of Belarus on cooperation in the field of physical education and sports. It is aimed at improving the regulatory framework of Ukrainian-Belarusian cooperation in the field of physical education and sports and providing the necessary legal conditions for the development of bilateral relations in the field of physical education and sports through central executive authorities and public organizations of physical education and sports.