Oleksandr Turchynov at the meeting with NATO Assistant Secretary General: Strong Ukraine is an important factor of security in Europe

Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov had a meeting with NATO Assistant Secretary General Alejandro Alvargonzalez.

During the meeting, the parties discussed the situation in the east of Ukraine and the question of extending cooperation between Ukraine and the Alliance.

Moreover, the interlocutors addressed the issues of reforming the security and defense sector of Ukraine and the intensification of cooperation on the way of reforms.

According to Mr. Turchynov, the Russian-terrorist troops continue to deliberately violate the Minsk agreements and arrangements discussed in the Normandy format in Berlin on October 19 this year. "Never once there was a day when the shellings of our positions with prohibited heavy-caliber weapons stopped, but all the attempts to break our defense are doomed", - Secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine said adding that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will repel any provocations by the occupational units of the Russian Federation.

When discussing the reforms in the security and defense sector of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov highlighted the consistent and stage-by-stage approach towards the transition to the NATO standards and emphasized the efficient interaction with the experts of the Alliance while preparing basic documents defining the strategy of reforms.

"We are grateful for that in all the areas of reforming, we have an active cooperation with our NATO partners", - he noticed. According to Mr. Turchynov, Ukraine is grateful for the position which was reaffirmed at the NATO Warsaw summit on July 8-9, 2016. At the same time, Secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine pointed out to that generally successful cooperation with the European member states of the Alliance "artificially bypasses the issues of military-technical cooperation, which does not contribute to countering Russian aggression and weakens security in Europe".

"We are open for cooperation and would like NATO to consider us a reliable partner", - Oleksandr Turchynov said adding that, for its part, NATO "should be interested in a strong Ukraine that is able to confront any provocations and aggression".

In his turn, NATO Assistant Secretary General stressed that the Alliance is interested in comprehensive cooperation with Ukraine and will further support our country on its way to reforming and strengthening the security and defense sector.