Cooperation between Ukraine and NATO is instrumental in the context of restoring a collective security system in Europe, says Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov.

"Political-military cooperation with NATO is of special significance" to Ukraine today, Turchynov said. "Russia has virtually destroyed the collective security system in Europe by its actions. […] This poses a real threat not only to Ukraine," he said in opening a session of the Ukraine-NATO joint working group on military reform in Kyiv on Wednesday.

"Attempts to appease an aggressor are doomed to failure," Turchynov said. "An aggressor needs to be not appeased but stopped," he said.

The collective security system in the Euro-Atlantic area cannot be restored without NATO's active involvement, he said.

"Ukraine has no alternative to European and Euro-Atlantic integration. This is reflected in a new edition of the National Security and Defense Strategy, which was recently endorsed by the National Security and Defense Council and signed by the president," he said.

Turchynov also expressed the hope that the establishment of new NATO trust funds in support for Ukraine's defense capability should enable the latter to achieve positive results in all areas of interaction with the alliance within a short period of time.