On August 25, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine - Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine Oleg Uruskyi held an official meeting with the Head of the NATO Representation to Ukraine Alexander Vinnikov.

According to the press service of the Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine, the parties discussed the state of current cooperation and the process of reforming the Ukrainian defense industry.

Oleg Uruskyi briefed Alexander Vinnikov on the measures taken by the Ministry of Strategic Industries in the context of corporatization of defense and aerospace enterprises, as well as the formation of a proper business environment in Ukraine that will meet modern approaches and contribute to our country's successful integration into NATO.

Head of the NATO Representation to Ukraine, for his part, praised the intensification of defense reform in Ukraine and expressed the Alliance's readiness to continue providing expert support in the process of implementing reforms, in particular the domestic defense industry.

He also proposed to present to the Alliance in autumn 2021 the Strategy of development of the defense-industrial complex of Ukraine until 2030, which was recently adopted by the National Security and Defense Council and approved by the Decree of the President of Ukraine.

"I stressed that our country has two strategic goals - accession to the European Union and NATO. I believe that the integration of our country into the Alliance will precede accession to the EU. I am convinced that the reform of the defense industry will be of high quality and will not slow down Ukraine's movement towards NATO. After all, military-technical cooperation between Ukraine and the Alliance is an important component of integration processes," the Deputy Prime Minister underscored.

The Head of the NATO Representation to Ukraine will soon wrap up his tenure in Ukraine, so Oleg Uruskyi thanked him for fruitful cooperation, emphasizing that our state has always felt the personal support of Alexander Vinnikov and the Alliance in general in this difficult time of hybrid aggression by Russia.