As a highlight among the new partnerships signed between French and Ukrainian local authorities, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region and Sumy Oblast formalized their shared desire for cooperation on the stage of the International Summit of Cities and Regions in Kyiv.
Alain Rousset, President of the Regional Council of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, and Isabelle Boudineau, Regional Councillor in charge of Europe and European cooperation, joined Oleh Hryhorov, Head of the Regional Administration of Sumy Oblast, by videoconference to sign a letter of intent — the first step toward cooperation between the two territories.
The signing of this letter of intent marks an initial stage before the development of a more comprehensive cooperation protocol between the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region and Sumy Oblast. This future protocol may cover several priority areas of cooperation, including energy resilience, agriculture and the agri-food sector, healthcare, defence, reconstruction and territorial planning, as well as industrial and university-related issues through economic, scientific and academic partnerships, cooperation between higher education institutions, and exchanges of expertise.
Decentralized cooperation is a key driver of international openness, expertise-sharing and mutual learning. Its continued development between France and Ukraine reflects the willingness of the territories of both countries to strengthen their ties over the long term and to build partnerships based on trust, solidarity and exchange.
