Libya has signed a cooperation agreement with Ukraine on peaceful use of civilian nuclear energy. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said the former Soviet republic needed to diversify its energy sources to reduce its dependence on energy from Russia. Currently, Ukraine has four nuclear power stations supplying the country with around half of its electricity needs.

Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi Mahmoudi said Libya has various offers for civilian nuclear cooperation but they prefer to do it with Ukraine.

Our independence would be greater if we were energy-independent and if we diversified our supply sources, Tymoshenko said.

Tymoshenko has also met Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi and gave him a letter from Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, as reported by official JANA news agency.