Israel and Ukraine have launched a strategic dialogue on the Iranian threat, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced on Wednesday while visiting Kyiv, where he declared the two countries share a “special bond.”

The trip, which began on Tuesday, was the most senior visit by an Israeli official to Ukraine since February 2023, when Sa’ar’s predecessor, current Energy Minister Eli Cohen, visited the country. It featured multiple displays of warmth between Sa’ar and Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, along with discussions on military cooperation.

Sa’ar also denounced Russian attacks on civilians and called for a “durable and lasting peace that ensures security for Ukraine.”

“Israel and Ukraine share a special bond,” Sa’ar said at a press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha, whom he invited to visit Israel. “Both our nations face difficult and challenging times. We both face war and pain. We are both resilient nations.”

At the press conference, Saar spoke about the dialogue on Iran. He noted that Russia has used Iranian drones in its war against Ukraine, which began with the massive invasion launched in February 2022.

The announcement on the strategic dialogue reopened a consultation mechanism that has been suspended since the Russian invasion began, Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk told the Times of Israel.

The focus will be on Iran for the foreseeable future, Korniychuk saiid: “We have been shot with the same drones. We have the same enemies.”

The two countries will work to prevent collaboration between common enemies, and to advance sanctions against them, said Korniychuk.

The next phase of the dialogue will take place when Sybiha visits Israel, which Sa’ar on Wednesday invited him to do.

“Iran not only threatened Israel,” Sa’ar said at the press conference. “It threatened regional and global security. It threatened Ukraine. Our actions against its weapons and technology contribute to European security — and to the security of Ukraine.”

Sa’ar said that Israel’s strikes on Iran last month, when it attacked Tehran’s nuclear enrichment facilities and weapons production, “sent its nuclear ambitions years back.”

“We severely harmed its ballistic missile program,” he said. “And we also harmed the Iranian drone supply — the very same technology being used against Ukraine.”

Zelensky said he spoke with Sa’ar about “strengthening Ukraine’s air defense.” Zelensky has long expressed a desire to have capabilities akin to Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.

In a post on X, Zelensky expressed gratitude for Sa’ar’s visit and Israel’s “support of Ukraine and Ukrainians.”

The pair discussed “cooperation, primarily in the economic and defense sectors, strengthening of Ukraine’s air defense, and opportunities for joint weapons production,” he added.

He also thanked Israel for its “decision to provide assistance for water supply systems in the southern regions” and said he hopes for help in “humanitarian demining of contaminated areas.”

In the Israeli readout of their meeting, Sa’ar said the pair discussed strengthening bilateral ties, the war in Ukraine, and “the situation in the Middle East, with an emphasis on Iran.”

Sa’ar also met with Artem Borik, whose family was killed in an Iranian missile strike on Bat Yam during Israel’s war with Iran. Borik lost his 7-year-old daughter, Nastia — who had come to Israel for cancer treatment — his wife, Maria, Maria’s mother, and two of Nastia’s cousins, ages 9 and 13.

Borik, who is serving in Ukraine’s armed forces during its war with Russia, was unable to accompany his daughter to Israel due to wartime restrictions preventing men under the age of 60 from leaving the country.

“With a heavy heart, I met Artem in Kyiv,” Sa’ar said in a statement from his office. “I expressed my condolences and our shared grief over this tragic and devastating loss.”

“I told Artem that all of Israel stands with him in his pain. I also heard from him about his military service on the front lines, as a soldier in the Ukrainian army,” Sa’ar added.

Reuters contributed to this report.