More than 43,000 people have joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine on a contract basis since the beginning of this year, Defense Minister of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak has said.

"Some 43,509 people have signed contracts since the beginning of the year. According to the authority's forecast, 20,000 more contract soldiers will join the Armed Forces by the end of 2016," he said at a meeting of the Reforms Committee in Kyiv.

Poltorak stressed this dynamics allows avoiding the declaration of the seventh wave of mobilization. Moreover, it allows transferring those mobilized during the fifth wave to the reserve, he said.