Joint statement

So, Minister Kuleba, dear Dmytro, welcome to NATO. 

It's great to see you again. 

And we all see that the war in Ukraine continues to grind on but we also see the bravery, the courage, the determination of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Ukrainian people, but also the Ukrainian leadership represented by you, and, also, of course, President Zelenskyy. 

And we are also impressed that we see how you have been able to push back the Russian aggression, and how also Allies then are now stepping up their support. 

I welcome the fact that NATO Allies and partners are delivering also heavy armor, modern battle tanks, and I look forward to the meeting later on today, when we can discuss how to sustain and further step up the urgent support to Ukraine. Both military support, but also economic and financial support. 

But I also look forward to our discussions among Allies on how we can develop more long-term program for assistance, for support, to ensure that Ukraine can move closer to the Euro-Atlantic family, to our reliance, with more interoperability, transition to NATO doctrines, equipment standards.

And therefore, I also look forward to that Allies will now start the development of a multi-year program assistance package for Ukraine that demonstrates our long-term commitment to your country. 

So welcome again. It's always a pleasure to have you here and look forward to have a bilateral with you and then later on we will meet with all the Allies.