On November 7, Ukrainian-US bilateral defense consultations have started in Kyiv as part of a visit to Ukraine by an American delegation headed by US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper.

Representatives of the leadership of the Defense Ministry and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, officers of the services and branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine took part in the consultations on the Ukrainian side.

At the beginning of the meeting, Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Alina Frolova emphasized the importance of carrying out such events and expressed her hope for further development of cooperation with the United States of America.

The main purpose of the consultations is to discuss the development of Ukrainian-American defense cooperation. In particular, the sides also plan to discuss the security situation in and around Ukraine as well as to inform the American side on the current challenges in the East of Ukraine, trends in the security situation, including in the Black Sea.

Moreover, during the US-Ukrainian defense consultations the focus will be placed on discussing the defense sector reforms, namely: the implementation of the National Security Law in the part of strengthening of civilian, democratic and parliamentary oversight, transformation of the defense department and defense forces command and control system, Capability Based Planning as well as Development Strategies of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Representatives of the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces of Ukraine will also inform the US counterparts on the professionalization of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, HR policy, personnel management system and professional military education, training of personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Among other things, the parties will exchange views on certain aspects of military-technical cooperation between the two countries.

Representatives of the US military delegation will inform Ukrainian counterparts about the current state and prospects of defense cooperation between Ukraine and the USA and key areas of maintaining a mutually beneficial partnership.