June 3, 2011 saw the fifth meeting of the subcommittee for humanitarian cooperation of the Russian-Ukrainian intergovernmental commission in Moscow.

       In his opening remarks Russian co-Chairman of the subcommittee Andrei Fursenko, who is the Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, noted that "the cooperation with Ukraine has been developing rapidly, with ambitious targets set and attained. Today we are here to summarize the results and assess the progress made."

       His Ukrainian counterpart Dmitry Tabachnik, running the post of the Minister of Education, Science, Youth and Sports in his country, said he was upbeat about the results of the interaction and emphasized that "the subcommittee for humanitarian cooperation has been working fruitfully, and rhythmically, which is ever so important."

       Highlighting the draft program under discussion, Mr. Fursenko pointed out that "the action plan of cooperation between Russia and Ukraine in the humanitarian sector is aimed at preserving, developing and expanding our educational, scientific, cultural and social partnership. Like a living organism the program is bound to develop and improve."

       When it came to the discussion of a project to launch an international Russian-Ukrainian lyceum in Kyiv, Dmitry Tabachnik suggested that the parties "should also mull over prospects of establishing Ukrainian schools in Moscow and St. Petersburg," adding that "Ukraine has got an international Ukrainian school, where children of diplomats and scientists are taught. School leavers get a Ukrainian certificate of education and another one from their own country. We might think of a similar double certification at a Ukrainian secondary school somewhere in Russia."

       Speaking for his part Andrei Fursenko said: "We do support the idea and are looking forward to having such schools, where instructors teach not only in Russian, but also in Ukrainian. This will prove that it is our mutual goal to develop bilateral relations."

       The participants in the meeting touched upon some other items on the Russian-Ukrainian humanitarian agenda in 2011 and 2012. Considerable attention was attached to cooperation in science and education. For instance, they discussed improvements in the legal framework, exchange of information and lessons learnt, celebrating Ukrainian Education and Science Days in Russia and vice versa, and offering support to students studying Russian language and literature in Ukraine and Ukrainian language in Russia. They also dwelt on interaction in humanitarian and social spheres, such as youth and family policy, cultural and language challenges of national minorities, culture and information, tourism, migration and protection of labor migrants, as well as physical culture, sports, healthcare and social security.

       The meeting ended with the signing of the final protocol.

       The Russian-Ukrainian intergovernmental commission includes the Committee for Economic Cooperation and subcommittees for security, international cooperation, humanitarian cooperation, and the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine.

       The Subcommittee for Humanitarian Cooperation deals with current and new issues of cooperation between Russia and Ukraine in the areas of science, education, culture and healthcare.