NATO-Ukraine Commission meeting: Reznikov tells of new format of relations with alliance

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said this at a meeting with journalists following the NATO-Ukraine Commission's meeting in Brussels on Thursday, June 15, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"As a lawyer, I don't like to make forecasts, but I can predict: this was the first meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission since 2016, and I seriously hope that it was the last one. I hope that the next meeting of defense ministers from Ukraine and NATO - in Vilnius or immediately after [the summit in] Vilnius - will be held in format of the NATO-Ukraine Council. This is a new level of relations, a new and higher level of interaction, when Ukraine, although not yet a member of NATO, will already be on an equal footing in all committees, in all representative meetings, with the right to raise issues that are written out in respective agreements. Therefore, the next meeting will be a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, with greater opportunities," Reznikov said.

He recalled that the NATO-Ukraine Commission last met on June 15, 2016. This format was later blocked due to a veto from Hungary. Today, for the first time since 2016, a meeting of this Commission took place at the level of defense ministers, with the participation of all 31 defense ministers of NATO countries and Ukraine.

"It was an opportunity for us to convey our vision. Of course, we talked about our application for membership in NATO, about [the summit in] Vilnius, about expectations, about strengthening our capabilities. The main thing, which is very inspiring and important, is that since the morning, since the meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, we have already been talking about the future. We talked about the future forces, about the development of the capabilities of the Ukrainian defense forces even after we win – about what the Ukrainian Armed Forces should be like on the eastern flank of Europe and NATO," Reznikov said.

He noted that significant progress was made during the meeting, in particular, in terms of training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets, as well as within a "tank coalition," the leading countries of which are Poland and Germany. Today, Poland determined how a technical hub for the maintenance and repair of Leopard tanks would be organized.

Reznikov said another achievement of the "last" NATO-Ukraine Commission meeting was the initiative by Estonia and Luxembourg to create an "IT coalition," which will help increase Ukraine's capabilities, particularly in matters of cyber defense. In addition, such an initiative will allow countries that cannot join the coalition of lethal weapons for Ukraine for some political considerations to join the IT coalition, which can be formed within the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.