As part of the visit to the United States, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk and Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov had a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Andriy Yermak thanked Antony Blinken for all the powerful assistance that has been provided to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion. In particular, it is almost $45 billion in defense aid and $22.9 billion in budget support.
He also expressed gratitude for the organization of the USA – Ukraine Defense Industrial Base Conference, which is taking place these days in Washington, DC. Andriy Yermak noted that this important event will launch active bilateral military-technical cooperation between the two countries.
It was noted that Ukrainian defense companies, based on the experience of the Ukrainian military in the use of various types of weapons in combat, with the support of American partners, are able to produce fundamentally better weapons.
The parties also discussed the need to sustain Ukraine's macro-financial stability.
Andriy Yermak thanked President Joseph Biden's team for their efforts to provide budgetary assistance to Ukraine and expressed hope that the U.S. Congress would soon adopt all the necessary decisions.
During the meeting, the interlocutors discussed the situation on the battlefield and Ukraine's current defense needs.
The parties paid special attention to the implementation of the Peace Formula of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Andriy Yermak thanked for the participation of the U.S. representative in the regular meeting of national security and political advisers in Malta and invited to join the next such meeting.
The Head of the President's Office assured the American side of Ukraine's strong commitment to further reforms, particularly in view of the European Commission's recommendations to start negotiations on Ukraine's membership in the EU.
Andriy Yermak also informed Antony Blinken about the course of negotiations on security guarantees for Ukraine on its way to NATO, as envisaged by the Joint Declaration of the Group of Seven adopted in Vilnius. The Head of the President's Office is hopeful that a substantive discussion of the American side's proposals on a bilateral agreement on security guarantees for our country would begin shortly.
