U.S. European Command
October 21, 2014
Readout of Ukraine-US Joint Commission
By U.S. European Command Media Operations Division
Stuttgart, Germany: “Senior representatives from Ukraine’s General Staff and U.S. European Command recently concluded the inaugural Ukraine-U.S. Joint Commission in Kyiv, Ukraine, Oct 17.
“The Ukraine-U.S. Joint Commission meeting is a part of a deliberative, constructive dialogue to build an achievable, sustainable engagement plan to institute fundamental reform, build capability, grow capacity, and develop a transformed Ukrainian Armed Forces.
“The Joint Commission is a new construct to conduct the types of bilateral security and defense cooperation the U.S. and Ukraine have been conducting for years. The Joint Commission is co-chaired by the director of Ukraine’s General Staff and U.S. European Command’s director of Policy, Strategy, Partnering and Capabilities (J5/8) . The committee oversees and guides a subordinate, cross-functional, bilateral staff structure with representatives from the U.S Office of the Secretary of Defense, U.S. Joint Staff, U.S. European Command and its service components, and the California National Guard.
“The goal of the inaugural meeting of the Joint Commission was to bilaterally develop near, mid-, and long-term transformation measures and to validate priorities as expressed by Ukraine and the United States.
“Assistance the U.S. has either provided or will be providing includes more than $100 million U.S. dollars in military security assistance – from different funding sources – to provide for Ukraine’s near, mid-, and long-term needs.
“The Joint Commission is part of a months long bi-lateral, pro-active, comprehensive assessment which looked across a wide range of Ukrainian military functional areas that resulted in a prioritized list of requirements which will inform future assistance and cooperative efforts aimed at promoting the professional transformation of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
“The cross-functional bi-lateral staff has teamed to review and make recommendations for the improvement and growth of the following areas:
•medical
•logistics
•institution building
•maritime
•ground forces
•air forces
•special operations
•communications
•information
•border security”
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