Introductory remarks

Welcome to this meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission in Defence Ministers' Session. I am especially pleased to welcome a number of Ministers who are attending their first NUC meeting.

NATO's relationship with Ukraine is of major importance to both sides. Last month, in Reykjavik, a formal invitation for a NUC meeting at Head of State level in Prague was extended to Ukraine. Foreign Ministers tasked Ambassadors to develop modalities to deepen the NATO-Ukraine relationship, and we look forward to the meeting of NUC Ambassadors in Kyiv on 9 July. This will mark the fifth anniversary of the Distinctive Partnership and will provide us with an opportunity to take stock of our achievements. I also look forward to my visit to Donetsk to witness the destruction of some of the 400,000 anti-personnel land mines under the PFP Trust Fund project. The Joint Working Group on Defence Reform at Senior Level will also meet in Ukraine in October. All in all, an impressive package producing real results.