The visit of the North Atlantic Council’s members to Ukraine is a vivid demonstration of solidarity with our country, as stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy while opening a session of the NATO-Ukraine Commission in Kyiv.
“We thank the Allies for their continued position in support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and non-recognition of the annexation of Crimea. We are grateful for NATO's insistent demands on Russia to stop aggressive actions and withdraw troops from the occupied territories of Ukraine,” the Head of State said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukraine was a consistent and efficient partner of the Alliance, which would continue to contribute to the security in the Euro-Atlantic area and beyond.
According to the President, he highly appreciates the fact that during last year’s Summit in Brussels, the leadership of the Alliance’s countries confirmed the decision of the Bucharest Summit 2008 that Ukraine should be a member of NATO.
“For our part, we understand that only effective reforms are the key to our Alliance membership. We are committed to transforming Ukraine according to NATO standards and that is the focus of our joint efforts,” the President emphasized.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine was willing to deepen its cooperation with NATO to strengthen the defense capability, increase the country’s resilience to modern threats and interaction with the Alliance’s structures.
“We are grateful that the Alliance continues to provide us with political and practical assistance, especially in reforming the security and defense sectors. A good foundation for this is the comprehensive NATO assistance package approved in 2016. We are hopeful that it will be supplemented, updated and expanded with additional projects and activities,” he stressed.
In addition, according to the Head of State, Ukraine counts on the acceleration of the process of achieving interoperability of the Ukrainian Armed Forces with NATO forces.
“ We suggest considering Ukraine's accession to the NATO Enhanced Opportunities Program substantively. I am sure that Ukraine is ready to move to this new level of cooperation,” the President said.
According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine is interested in enhancing its interaction with NATO to restore stability and security in the Black Sea region.
“We expect that Ukraine's proposal as regards practical steps on the implementation of the NATO Black Sea Package adopted in April this year will be supported. We need to jointly strengthen the capabilities of the Ukrainian Navy in this important region for us,” the Head of State stated.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy also congratulated NATO on its 70th anniversary.
