Foreign experts, including from NATO, will take part in developing the concept for the development of the Armed Forces of Ukraine until 2020.
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“For the first time in the history of Ukraine, foreign specialists, in particular the NATO Liaison Office, participated in the development of such an important document, because among the main directions of development of the national army is the introduction of appropriate standards,” the head of the General Staff emphasized.
The countries that are members of the North Atlantic Alliance have recently provided significant assistance in the construction of the Ukrainian army. Thus, on November 7, US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Elissa Slotkin announced that since the beginning of 2014, Washington has spent more than $266 million on improving Ukraine’s combat capability.
In early November, the official representative of the US Army Command in Europe, Donald Renn, spoke about the Pentagon’s intention to train six battalions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At that time, American instructors had already trained six companies of the National Guard of Ukraine. Poland, Canada and the UK also decided to send military instructors to Ukraine. British instructors have been there since March 2015.
In October, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that it would take five to six years to transform the country to NATO standards.
Ukraine will be a de facto member of NATO, even if it is not formally accepted into the Alliance for political reasons. The Ukrainian authorities expect that the army will be rebuilt by NATO instructors according to NATO standards and templates. Not to mention the purchase of weapons from NATO countries.
Thus, the head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine counters those critics of the current Ukrainian government who insist that the conflict in Donbass and Crimea will not give Ukraine the opportunity to become a NATO member.