Zahorodniuk meets with U.S. Secretary of Defense to discuss military-technical cooperation

"Zahorodniuk informed his U.S. counterpart about the state of the Joint Forces operation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, noting that despite the Russian armed aggression in eastern Ukraine, the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to reform and transform in order to meet criteria for NATO membership," the statement reads.

According to the minister, the restructuring of the Ukrainian Army is aimed at achieving a clear separation of authority between С2 bodies, based on NATO principles.

During the meeting, the parties also paid attention to the issues of bilateral defense cooperation between Ukraine and the United States of America. In this context, Zahorodniuk thanked the U.S. for its material and advisory assistance to Ukraine.

The Ukrainian side expressed interest in the development of military and technical cooperation in the field of defense procurement, expanding the military-political dialogue and holding consultations, in particular, on security issues in the Black Sea region.

The U.S. Secretary of Defense expressed support for Ukraine in implementing reforms and obtaining the EOP status. The parties agreed to continue the dialogue at the level of heads of defense agencies in 2020.

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