“We will continue to work closely with the Ukrainian government to help implement their plans for reforms of the defense and security sector and we will be stepping up our concrete support for Ukraine. Our partnership is strong and it is becoming even stronger,” Stoltenberg said before a NATO-Ukraine commission meeting began.
“We support the government's efforts to pursue a political path that meets the aspirations of the people of all the regions of Ukraine,” he said.
However, Stoltenberg noted that this path would not be easy for Ukraine to fulfill.
“We support Ukraine's freedom to decide its own future without outside interference. Ukraine has a difficult path ahead,” he said.
On Tuesday, NATO foreign ministers gathered in Brussels to discuss the current situation in Ukraine, measures to increase the presence of the alliance in Eastern Europe and NATO's new noncombatant mission in Afghanistan.
NATO established the package of measures to help Ukraine better provide for its security during the September Summit in Wales. The heads of the alliance decided to allocate about 15 million euro ($19 million) in financial aid for Kiev.
Since the beginning of the crisis in southeastern Ukraine, the country has been striving to increase its cooperation with NATO. In August, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk introduced legislation to the country's parliament to drop its "non-aligned" status, starting a campaign to join the alliance.
