A meeting of the Core Group of the NATO-Ukraine Joint Working Group on Defence Reform was held at NATO Headquarters in Brussels.

Ukrainian delegation was led by First Deputy secretary of Council of National Security and Defence of Ukraine Oleksandr Medvedko. Director of Defence Ministry’s Military Policy and Strategic Planning Department, Mr. Oleksandr Zatynaiko participated in the meeting as a member of Ukrainian delegation. NATO delegation was headed by Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy Mr. James Appathurai.

During the meeting the sides discussed the priorities for NATO-Ukraine defence cooperation in 2014 and approved NATO-Ukraine JWGDR Tentative calendar of activities for the current year. Special attention was paid to Ukraine's defence and security sector reforms in 2013 and the implementation of NATO cooperation projects supporting these tasks.

The participants of the meeting, whish was held in a frank and friendly atmosphere, commended the systemic nature of NATO-Ukraine constructive partnership and noted the effectiveness of the mechanism of the JWGDR to facilitate large-scale reforms in defence and security sector of our country.

NATO representatives stressed the importance of further development of practical cooperation with Ukraine as well as confirmed the Alliance’s willingness to deepen cooperation in priority areas and provide comprehensive support in security and defence reform in Ukraine.