First Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Ivan Rusnak has held a meeting with Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Tina Kaidanow in Kyiv, during which the parties discussed the current situation in the area of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) zone and the issues of reforming the Defense Ministry of Ukraine.

Rusnak expressed gratitude to the representatives of the State Department for all-round support of Ukraine from the US. "The United States of America is the main strategic partner for Ukraine, it always stands by its word and fulfill obligations. And we are grateful to the U.S. for its full support in connection with the aggression of the Russian Federation," he said, the press service reported on Wednesday.

On behalf of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine and the Armed Forces, the first deputy defense ministry thanked the American side for the material and technical assistance provided to Ukraine since 2014. "We expect that your support will further continue and will include defensive weapons that will allow us to effectively restrain Russian aggression," Rusnak said.

The deputy minister also noted the role of the U.S. State Department in helping Ukraine and said that, despite the challenges and threats, Ukraine has taken a course to conduct deep military reform and bring the defense forces to NATO standards.

"Currently, Ukraine has adopted all strategic military planning documents, which were prepared with the participation of the Alliance's experts. The reform focuses on the renewal of the management of the security forces and defense of Ukraine, the training system of the Armed Forces in accordance with NATO standards," the first deputy defense minister of Ukraine said.

The sides discussed the issues of further development of bilateral cooperation in the military and military-technical spheres and the areas of further support of Ukraine by the United States.