Chairman of the NATO Military Committee Rob Bauer, who arrived in Kyiv, called his visit evidence that Ukraine and NATO are "now closer than ever."

"I am grateful for the opportunity to travel to Ukraine in person and to meet with your political and military leadership. This allows me to express my deep respect for the courage and strength you have displayed both on and off the battlefield. My visit, the first NATO military delegation to visit Ukraine since the large-scale invasion, is testament to the fact that NATO and Ukraine are closer than they have ever been," Bauer said during the 16th annual Kyiv Security Forum, founded by Arseniy Yatsenyuk's Open Ukraine Foundation.

According to Bauer, "with every day that passes we become closer, more interoperable, more intertwined."