The level of support provided to Ukraine by the North Atlantic Alliance is very important, and official Kyiv expresses gratitude for the assistance of the Organization in protecting democratic values and countering Russian aggression. This was stated by Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The event was the first-ever meeting in this composition and held within the framework of the North Atlantic Council's visit to Ukraine dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Charter on a Distinctive Partnership between Ukraine and NATO.

"We highly appreciate the support and cooperation of Ukraine with NATO. I want to thank for the level of cooperation that we have today and call on you to increase support for Ukraine in all sectors. The timing and extent of this support are very important", the Head of Government stressed.

He noted that today Ukraine is countering Russian aggression, which has led to the drop of 16% of GDP and resulted in casualties among civilians and military personnel on its sovereign territory. These days, Ukraine is spending more than 5% of its GDP on financing national security and defense, and it urges the civilized world to unite in order to strengthen defense capability of the country, the Head of Government stressed. "It is very important that the democratic world would unite to protect the values that are defended today by Ukrainian soldiers fighting at the eastern border of Ukraine - at the eastern border of Europe", he said.

The Prime Minister also stressed the need to prolong the sanctions policy as a punishment for the aggressor country for neglect of international law and encroachment on the sovereignty of an independent country.

Speaking about possible directions for deepening cooperation between Ukraine and NATO, the Prime Minister proposed to strengthen cooperation through creating a national system for the protection of critical infrastructure, cyber security and emergency response. In this regard, the Head of Government thanked NATO specialists for the assistance in the demining activities at warehouses in the town of Balaklia, Kharkiv region, where explosions of shells had occurred this spring.

Volodymyr Groysman also noted that despite the challenges, the Government had managed to stop the economic decline, to restart the economic growth, and was engaged in the necessary internal transformations - decentralization, deregulation, corruption fight, introduction of e-government procurement and e-asset declaration systems, deregulation at the gas market. In addition, the Government identified five reforms on the agenda. Those reforms received approval at the Ukraine Reform Conference in London last week, added the Prime Minister.