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In a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission on 2 December in Brussels, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius voiced strong support for an intensified NATO-Ukraine political dialogue and practical cooperation, which would help strengthen Ukraine’s security and defence capacity.

In the meeting of the Commission, the Ministers discussed Ukraine’s progress on reforms, the implementation of the Minsk agreements and the situation in eastern Ukraine.

“Ukraine remains one of the key partners of NATO. The participants of the Alliance’s upcoming summit in Warsaw will have a good opportunity to enhance the political dialogue between NATO and Ukraine,” said Linkevičius.

According to Lithuania’s Foreign Minister, the diplomatic representation of Lithuania in Kyiv will actively continue to carry out functions of NATO’s Contact Point Embassy in Ukraine.

During the meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin thanked Lithuania for its active contribution to the NATO-Ukraine political cooperation and for the important role of the Lithuanian Embassy in Kyiv in this process.

The participants of the meeting of the Commission highlighted Ukraine’s aim to bring the Ukrainian Armed Forces in line with NATO standards over the next years. According to Linkevičius, a tripartite Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian military brigade LITPOLUKRBRIG can help Ukraine to achieve its goals. The brigade will take part in the exercise Triple Brave already in February 2016.

“This brigade can serve as a model for transforming the Ukrainian Armed Forces. It will help Ukrainian military officers gain experience working in line with NATO standards and procedures,” added Lithuania’s Foreign Minister.

Lithuania’s Foreign Minister also stressed the need to strengthen Ukraine’s strategic communication capacity. Lithuania is ready to contribute to achieving this goal through NATO’s Trust Fund, as well as on a bilateral basis.

In addition, Lithuania contributes to activities of the NATO-Ukraine Command, Control, Communications and Computers (C4) Trust Fund (EUR 50,000).

The participants of the meeting emphasized the need to continue to fully support Ukraine and reforms, which would improve the resilience of Ukrainian public institutions and society, and the implementation of the Minsk agreements that would help restore the country’s territorial integrity. The allies assured that they would continue a policy of non-recognition of illegal annexation of Crimea and that eastern Ukraine would not receive less attention due to the attempt to find a solution for the Syrian civil war.

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