Cooperation between Ukraine and NATO must improve, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Speaker Andriy Parubiy has said.

"I'm sure cooperation between the alliance and Ukraine can reach a new level," the speaker said during a committee meeting on Ukraine nearing NATO standards, and the state of fulfillment of the annual national cooperation program under the aegis of the Ukraine-NATO commission held on Wednesday in Kyiv.

Parubiy said, "Ukraine should not only be a candidate for NATO accession, but a loyal and firm NATO ally." He added that the most important task is repelling Russian aggression on Ukraine's eastern borders.

"We realize that the threat posed by [Russia's President Vladimir] Putin is one not only for Ukraine. It is a threat for the entire free world, for the world security system. We all understand that the threat of Putin bears on the European Union and the Euro-Atlantic community, and therefore the issue of collective security is for us key, because NATO is the only organization in the world that is capable of stopping Putin's aggression," Parubiy said.

Parliament committees on foreign affairs are conducting the hearings, as well as committees on European integration and national security and defense.