Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy officially presented Ihor Klymenko as the new secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) and said he expects him to strengthen coordination of the security and defense sector’s work, primarily on the country’s preparation for winter, localizing arms production and countering Russian information threats.
"Ihor has proven his effectiveness working at Ukraine’s Interior Ministry. By its nature, the Interior Ministry is a system of security and rescue structures that are managed and directed through the interior minister. Ihor coordinated their work very well. Now this same coordination function needs to be strengthened as much as possible at Ukraine’s NSDC," Zelenskyy said Tuesday.
According to the president, the NSDC secretary must ensure more effective interaction between the government, the Presidential Office, the military and special services during the country’s preparation for the winter period.
"I expect the NSDC secretary, together with Ukraine’s prime minister, together with all the necessary officials, the Office’s team, together with the military, together with our special services, to add more speed and substance to all the work of preparing for winter. I expect more substantive and coordinated interaction between all components of Ukraine’s security and defense forces," Zelenskyy said.
The president also stressed the need to complete preparatory work as soon as possible for localizing production in Ukraine of air defense systems, missiles and other types of weapons.
Zelenskyy named strengthening protection against Russian cyberattacks and countering Russian disinformation and information operations as separate NSDC priorities.
"I expect Ihor Klymenko to bring proposals on what decisions need to be made for greater results for Ukraine," the president said.
Klymenko, in turn, said his top priorities as NSDC secretary will be coordinating the work of the security and defense forces, implementing plans for the state’s resilience ahead of winter, and strengthening cyber and information security.
