Interfax-Ukraine
March 12, 2015
Ukraine to reform security and defense to meet NATO standards – Klimkin
Ukraine is working on reforming the security and defense sector to meet NATO standards, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin has said.
The Cabinet has approved an annual program on cooperation with NATO, Klimkin said in Kyiv on Thursday, while giving a report on the Ukrainian government’s work in its first 100 days.
“These are not just 50 pages of some text. Every word has its practical change and meaning. We will work over the implementation of every definition,” he said.
He also mentioned five trust funds set up with NATO, “which are doing everything – from logistics support of our armed forces to assistance for our wounded heroes.”
“We’ve got a unique program of inter-compatibility, and our goal is simple – to reform security and defense the way this sector could work in keeping with NATO standards and meet these standards because NATO’s standards are the ones that are used by the civilized world,” Klimkin said.
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As of today, Ukraine feels the support of the European Union, the international community, the G7, Japan and other countries, “which have realized that not supporting Ukraine and the entire civilized world, they betray two simple things – own values and own principles,” he said.
Klimkin pointed out the current European and Transatlantic unity on the Ukrainian question, a unique bailout package designed for Ukraine, readiness to continue supporting reform in Ukraine, and a package of humanitarian aid (EUR 100 million from the EU in recent months alone).
The international community imposed sanctions against Russia over Ukraine, and they can only be lifted after the restoration of Ukraine’s sovereignty in Donbas and Crimea, he said.
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