BRUSSELS – Ukraine Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin described NATO’s support to Kyiv as “exemplary” while voicing no concern for the defense alliance’s decision to reactivate the recently dormant NATO-Russia Council, a decision-making body that guides bilateral relations.
Saying he was
“glad” to receive “clear messages” of support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and
territorial integrity from the 28 NATO envoys at the alliance’s Dec. 1-2
meeting of foreign ministers, Klimkin stated Kyiv remains committed to bringing
its security and defense sectors in line with NATO standards.
“We started
a number of trust funds (to develop command and control, logistics, communications
and cyber security), a number of memorandums of understanding that cover
important areas of cooperation,” Ukraine’s top diplomat said. “Now we could
talk about comprehensive cooperation between Ukraine and NATO, and of course,
not only with NATO as an organization, but also different cooperation with
allies.”
Ukraine is
scheduled to present its plan to modernize its military, defense and security
sectors at the July 2016 NATO summit in Warsaw.
He added
that several working groups will meet on Dec. 3 to develop key areas of Ukraine’s
defense while stating that Kyiv was instrumental in providing input to NATO’s
new program to counter hybrid warfare that was adopted on Dec. 1.
As a victim of
Russia’s sophisticated employment of asymmetric warfare, Ukraine, “given our
experience with military operations and (Russian) propaganda…there is intensive
interaction and we will cooperate on hybrid threats.”
Klimkin
voiced concern on the “next wave of escalation on the ground” in Russia’s war
in eastern Ukraine. Fighting has slowly intensified over the past two weeks
following a lull in hostilities in September with combined Russian-separatist
forces launching daily attacks on Ukrainian positions.
“There are
continued and deliberate attempts by Russians and Russian proxies on the ground
that are exacerbating the humanitarian crisis…delivering more instability at
the line of contact with artillery,” he said.
When asked
to comment on NATO’s decision to reactivate the alliance’s commission with
Russia – In April 2014 NATO stopped practical cooperation with Moscow but has
maintained political channels open – Klimkin said: “It’s not going back to
business as usual, it’s about the necessary level of interaction to prevent
another Russian plane, like the one Turkey shot, from being shot down.”
At a separate briefing on Dec.2, NATO
chief Jens Stoltenberg defended the measure saying it was necessary to
restoring “predictability and transparency” of Russian military activities.
“We actually had two meetings in the NATO Russia Council after the start of the
crisis in Ukraine…this is not about assuming anything….we are looking into how
we can use a tool which has been there all the time,” Stoltenberg said.
Kyiv Post editor Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected].
