For the first time, Ukraine has been invited to participate in the expanded format of the Conference of National Armaments Directors of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
This was announced by the Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Oleksandr Nosov, representing Ukraine during the Conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
"On October 26, in Brussels, chaired by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, a meeting of the NATO North Atlantic Council's Supreme Advisory Committee on Armaments - the Conference of National Armaments Directors will take place. For the first time in more than half a century of the committee's activity, a representative of Ukraine has been invited to participate in issues that were previously the exclusive prerogative of NATO member states,” the statement says.
According to him, Ukraine has previously been involved in the conference sessions, but for the first time we are talking about issues related to the exclusive prerogative of NATO member states, in particular about innovations in the military-technical sphere, transformation in cooperation with science and the military-industrial complex, and achieving an optimal balance of military needs and budgetary possibilities.
Deputy Defense Minister Oleksandr Nosov emphasized that the Alliance's Conference of National Armaments Directors will be held immediately after last week, on October 21, 2021, NATO defense ministers approved a new alliance defense plan during conflicts and crises with the aim of planning an immediate formation forces of the alliance at the right time and in the right place.
Bilateral meetings of Nosov with the national Armaments Directors of the NATO member states are also planned in Brussels.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the United States supports defense reform in Ukraine to achieve the criteria for NATO membership.