Cooperation between Ukrainian Naval Forces and U.S. Navy, which has been ongoing for over 15 years, has achieved practical results in jointly contributing to the reinforcement of peace and security, senior officers from the two navies say.

As the press center of the Ukrainian Naval Forces command told Interfax-Ukraine, these achievements were hailed by Ukrainian Navy Commander Vice Admiral Yuriy Ilyin and Defense Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine Colonel, Joseph Hickox, during their official meeting in Sevastopol.

"Our cooperation is a road with two-way traffic. The task of the Ukrainian Naval Forces is to fulfill a practical component in our cooperation," the Ukrainian commander said.

According to him, international exercises are one of the components of cooperation.

"We consider the Ukrainian-U.S. Sea Breeze exercises an effective way to ensure security in the region. Moreover, these exercises prepare our forces for anti-terrorist and peacemaking operations," Vice Admiral Ilyin said.

The commander said that a national military fleet had to play one of the leading roles in fighting piracy, drug smuggling, illegal migration, and the illegal arms trade, and now the staff of the navy is prepared for participation in this operation.

"First of all, this includes the planned participation of Ukraine's Hetman Sahaidachny frigate in the Ocean Shield antipiracy operation. This year we also plan to participate in Operation Active Endeavour. We'll continue to participate in all regional initiatives, in particular, in the activation of multinational operations between our ships as part of the BLACKSEAFOR agreement, as well as in Operation Black Sea Harmony," the navy commander said.

Moreover, according to Vice Admiral Ilyin, subdivisions of the Ukrainian marines are in 2013 to participate in a number of international military cooperation exercises.

U.S. Embassy Defense Attaché Colonel Joseph Hickox, in turn, said that Sea Breeze, which is held every few years and which has a peacekeeping theme, is a convincing example of the practical component of bilateral cooperation.

He also stressed the importance of cooperation in training ships and subdivisions to fight piracy. He said it was important that in 2013 the Hetman Sahaidachny would participate in Operation Ocean Shield.