Senior Ministry of Defence of Ukraine US advisor Robert Steven Silverstein is one of our highly qualified and indifferent to Ukrainian perspective partners, who sincerely shared his experience and intellectual commitment to enhance defense capabilities of our country. He talks about particular results of his important mission and what he thinks about defense reforms implemented by Kyiv and key assessment of our cooperation with NATO.

"I will start with the fact that many of your generals and colonels, I work with in Kyiv, have learnt and practiced in NATO countries — USA, Poland, Czech Republic, Lithuania etc. They saw how Alliance implements reforms, in particular, in former Soviet states. MoD started to implement forward-looking initiative — capability-based planning. I will try to explain its essence in a simple example. Such planning allows you to understand, for example, whether you get combat boots how and who were given and how much left for further period. This system is used by NATO — countries and not only there. It makes possible to use resources in a right way and form vision of available stocks, the opposite to old soviet centralized resources model. Such approach makes you security and defense sector flexible in responding to any scenario on tactical or strategic levels. And it is better to track current expenditures. Namely for paying allowance, operational needs and other types of force support. This characteristics of planning system is capable to convince military and publicity that provided funds for defense sphere are used effectively. And that such needs for future periods will get adequate funding. We have subject-matter NATO experts and meet within working groups of Reforms Committee on weekly basis to work on solution of this initiative. Taking into account that it is hard in implementation but its success will make possible adequate funding of army needs," US advisor emphasized.

"I have the pleasure to admit that the Ukrainian military are progressing. Our instructors, who visited the same Yavoriv military range, have noted that Ukrainian colleagues have a remarkable ability to adapt. It is now important for your military to pass the process of forming military leadership and partnership," Steven Silverstein stressed and added that the United States is very valuable to Ukraine as a partner not only from a strategic point of view, but also because they are well aware of Ukrainian history, culture and all the sufferings that were here.