Ukraine-Interfax
May 27, 2015
Kyiv has high hopes for NATO-Ukraine Commission meeting on June 25 – Defense Minister
The Defense Minister of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak and NATO Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy Thrasyvoulos Stamatopoulos have discussed the prospects of further cooperation and reform of the Ukrainian defense sector.
“The parties discussed issues of cooperation with NATO as one of the key elements to ensure the national security of Ukraine and reforming the defense sector of our state. According to the defense minister, Ukraine has essential hopes for the NATO-Ukraine Commission meeting of defense ministers on June 25,” the ministry’s press service reported.
Stamatopoulos said NATO has seen progress in the reform of the defense ministry.
“We see progress in Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense reforms and realize we need to cooperate,” Stamatopoulos said.
Poltorak thanked Stamatopoulos for the support provided by NATO member states.
He said the ongoing situation in eastern Ukraine proves that Russia continues to support separatism and this policy threatens the security of Ukraine and other European countries.
In this context, Poltorak spoke about consolidation of joint efforts aimed at supporting defense sector reforms.
Poltorak said that important achievements had been achieved in reforming the defense ministry, along with volunteer organizations, including the implementation of the Board of Reforms at the ministry.
“The goal of this board is to implement economic, logistic, technical and medical reforms, establish efficient mechanism of involvement of public activists and representatives of international organizations in reforms,” he said.
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Ukraine-Interfax
May 27, 2015
Ukraine has no alternative to cooperation with NATO – Security Council Secretary
Cooperation between Ukraine and NATO is instrumental in the context of restoring a collective security system in Europe, says Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov.
“Political-military cooperation with NATO is of special significance” to Ukraine today, Turchynov said. “Russia has virtually destroyed the collective security system in Europe by its actions. […] This poses a real threat not only to Ukraine,” he said in opening a session of the Ukraine-NATO joint working group on military reform in Kyiv on Wednesday.
“Attempts to appease an aggressor are doomed to failure,” Turchynov said. “An aggressor needs to be not appeased but stopped,” he said.
The collective security system in the Euro-Atlantic area cannot be restored without NATO’s active involvement, he said.
“Ukraine has no alternative to European and Euro-Atlantic integration. This is reflected in a new edition of the National Security and Defense Strategy, which was recently endorsed by the National Security and Defense Council and signed by the president,” he said.
Turchynov also expressed the hope that the establishment of new NATO trust funds in support for Ukraine’s defense capability should enable the latter to achieve positive results in all areas of interaction with the alliance within a short period of time.
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