Yermak, Stefanchuk, Umerov meet with Secretary Blinken

Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov have met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken as part of their visit to the United States.

That's according to a statement posted on the website of the Office of the President, Ukrinform reports.

Yermak thanked Blinken for all the powerful assistance that has been provided to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion. In particular, it is almost $45 billion in defense aid and $22.9 billion in budget support.

He also expressed gratitude for the organization of the U.S.-Ukraine Defense Industrial Base Conference, which is taking place these days in Washington, DC. Yermak noted that this important event would launch active bilateral military-technical cooperation between the two countries.

It was noted that Ukrainian defense companies, based on the experience of the Ukrainian military in the use of various types of weapons in combat, with the support of American partners, are able to produce fundamentally better weapons.

The parties also discussed the need to sustain Ukraine's macro-financial stability

Yermak thanked President Joe Biden's team for their efforts to provide budgetary assistance to Ukraine and expressed hope that the U.S. Congress would soon adopt all the necessary decisions.

During the meeting, the parties discussed the battlefield situation and Ukraine's current defense needs.

They also paid special attention to the implementation of the Peace Formula of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. Yermak thanked for the participation of the U.S. representative in the regular meeting of national security and political advisers in Malta and invited him to join the next such meeting.

Yermak assured the U.S. side of Ukraine's strong commitment to further reforms, particularly in view of the European Commission's recommendations to start negotiations on Ukraine's membership in the EU.

Yermak also informed Blinken about the course of negotiations on security guarantees for Ukraine on its way to NATO, as envisaged by the Joint Declaration of the Group of Seven adopted in Vilnius.

Yermak expressed hope that a substantive discussion of the U.S. side's proposals on a bilateral agreement on security guarantees for the country would begin shortly.