NATO-Ukraine Commission meeting at Ambassadorial level was held at NATO Headquarters in Brussels with the participation of Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Olefirov.

The meeting, chaired by NATO Deputy Secretary General, Ambassador Aleksandr Vershbow, was devoted to discussing the results of implementation of the Annual National Programme for NATO-Ukraine cooperation in 2013. In this context the NUC noted high dynamics of the political dialogue and practical cooperation between Ukraine and the Alliance, including our country’s significant contribution to all NATO-led operations and missions. Participants of the meeting marked tangible results in implementing the domestic reforms in line with European standards. The necessity for the continuation of the said reforms next year with a view to enhancing current results already achieved was underlined during the meeting.

Following numerous requests by the Allies, the Ukrainian side provided comprehensive comments on the reasons for postponing the signature of the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine as well as on the recent developments in the political life of our state.

The NATO side stressed that the recent developments in Ukraine caused concern among the Allies due to their unanimous conviction that Ukraine is an integral part of the European family, valuable and distinctive partner of the North-Atlantic Alliance who should continue its course towards European integration.

The Alliance assured the Ukrainian side in its full respect to Ukrainian Government’s sovereign decision to postpone the signature of the Association Agreement with the EU. At the same time, members of the Alliance expressed their hope that Ukraine would return to this issue as soon as possible after all the issues that prevent the sides from signing the Agreement had been settled with the EU. They also emphasized that the European and Euro-Atlantic communities considered any external pressure on the sovereign state in the process of making important geopolitical decisions to be unacceptable.