"We have never asked for offensive weapons. But we have to defend our country. We must defend peace, tranquility and stability, in Europe as well. We need defense capabilities against the nuclear power spent tens of billions of dollars in order to upgrade its army and intimidating today the entire civilized world," Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk underlined at a meeting of the National Security Council with the participation of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

"Our fight for our freedom is a fight for the values of the free world. And today, when Ukraine suspended Russian army through the efforts of the Armed Forces of the country - we defended the borders of the European Union as well," the Prime Minister underlined.

The Head of the Government noted that cooperation between Ukraine and NATO began 20 years ago: "The world has changed a lot from that time."

Over the past 20 years, the Prime Minister stressed, Russia has developed the military unit, called Collective Security Treaty Organization, "10 years ago Ukraine clearly stated that it was very concerned about the CSTO expansion."

He stressed that during this time the Russian Federation "has invested tens of billions of dollars in upgrading its army" - "those army that invaded Crimea and came to Donetsk and Luhansk."

"Nobody expected that Russia as a permanent member of the Security Council and founder of the United Nations would undermine the foundations of global security," said Arseniy Yatsenyuk, recalling that in 2008 Russia invaded the territory of Georgia, "And Russia repeatedly gets away with violating international law."

He also recalled the recent events in Syria, where the Russian Federation began to build a military base: "Hundreds of thousands of migrants leave the conflict zone. And these people need help. Ukraine as no one else understands the refugee situation, because Europe has thousands of migrants from the zone of military conflict and Ukraine has 1.5 million IDPs from Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea, who left their territory because of Russian military aggression."

Arseniy Yatsenyuk addressed the NATO Secretary General: "It is Vladimir Putin who sends his jets to your airspace. It is the Kremlin who sends submarines and thus intimidates NATO member states, which is unacceptable in the 21^st century."

"Our joint position with NATO allies is the key to restore territorial integrity of the Ukrainian state and to prevent further breach of international law, international stability and the loss of territories by independent states because of Russian military aggression," pointed out the Prime Minister.

He emphasised that cooperation between Ukraine and the Alliance "now reaches an entirely new level": "We are aware that the issue of Ukraine's NATO membership is on the agenda of the Ukrainian people, it is very necessary for Ukraine, but it requires a united and coherent solution of NATO member states. In other words – it takes time. And in order to speed up this time, we must strengthen our cooperation and actually bring Ukrainian Armed Forces in full compliance with NATO criteria and standards. It is the shortest and fastest way for Ukraine to become a NATO member."

"The will of the Ukrainian people, the will of the Ukrainian Parliament and President of the country is reflected in the changes to the law on national security and defence, which clearly stipulates that Ukraine's course towards full membership in NATO is unquestionable," he said.

"Our practical cooperation is the guarantee that we will resume peace, stability and security in the region through joint efforts of NATO member states and Ukraine. We are facing tremendous challenges. But we are strong and we will overcome these challenges," the Prime Minister stressed.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk highlighted that he appreciated the position of the Secretary General and each member of the Alliance, who support territorial integrity and independence of the Ukrainian state, "who will ensure restoration of our territorial integrity and independence."