Military expert tells how NATO helping Ukraine strengthen its defense capabilities

Conducting military exercises is one of the ways to show Russia that countries are ready to repel Russian aggression if it expands.

Oleksandr Musiyenko, an expert at the Center for Military and Legal Studies, said this on the air of Dom TV channel, Ukrinform reports.

He reminded that the Joint Efforts 2021 military exercises would start on September 22 in the air, at sea, and on land. The units of Ukraine and NATO member states will be involved.

At the same time, Joint Efforts 2021 will be launched after the completion of the Zapad 2021 joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises which last from September 10 to 16.

"NATO member states are aware of threats [posed by Russia] and they use all the mechanisms provided to us by the NATO EOP status. The whole algorithm is involved. And we do not sit idly by. We strengthen defense, we understand our drawbacks that need to be eliminated, and we are doing our best to conduct joint exercises with NATO," the expert said.

Ukraine conducts training and consultations. There are NATO ships in the Black Sea – and Russia is restrained in its actions. These mechanisms work, Musiyenko added.

"We are also moving forward, we are not standing still. There are two areas. The first is to boost military aid and joint exercises. The second is political, diplomatic efforts. We need to make good use of the UN General Assembly site to draw attention to all these issues which concern not only Ukraine," the expert summed up.

As a reminder, Joint efforts 2021 strategic command and staff exercises will be carried out according to NATO standards in Ukraine from September 22 to 30. Troops from 15 countries, including 11 NATO member states and 4 partner countries, will share their experience with the Ukrainian army. The exercises will be held at almost all training areas of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

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