Mexican president meets Ukrainian leader to discuss trade relations

Mexican President Vincente Fox began talks Monday with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko in hopes of forging a new level of cooperation.

"There is a lot we can learn from each other on this road of democracy and freedom," Fox said after arriving in this former Soviet republic on Sunday, according to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

Fox was accompanied by a delegation of business leaders, who were slated to meet with representatives of Ukraine's business community. Yushchenko's office said that Ukraine was hoping to boost business links with Mexico.

Ukrainian Economic Minister Serhiy Teryokhin and First Deputy Prime Minister Anatoliy Kinakh, who also heads a political party of entrepreneurs and industrialists, were participating in the talks.

Fox was expected to meet with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Volodymyr Lytyvn, the parliament speaker, later in the day. During his visit, an official ceremony will be held marking the opening of the Mexican Embassy.

From Ukraine, Fox is due to travel to Russia for the first visit by a Mexican president since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. He is slated to hold talks on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Associated Press