Georgian, Ukrainian defence ministers to meet NATO counterparts on Thursday

Georgia’s defence minister Juansher Burchuladze and his Ukrainian colleague Oleksii Reznikov are set to meet NATO counterparts on Thursday, during sessions involving the alliance’s ministers of defence in Brussels, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Tuesday. 

Stoltenberg emphasised the significance of the upcoming meeting, noting it “will be a platform to address the importance of sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries in Europe, including Georgia and Ukraine.”

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The ministers from the two countries will meet all 30 NATO colleagues, the Secretary-General said, adding about Burchuladze “I look very much forward to the meeting with the Georgian defence minister,” emphasising “the closer and important partnership” NATO has with the country.

“We have just, so, stepped up our cooperation in different ways. We have activities together, we will have also an exercise together and there are other ways of demonstrating how NATO and Georgia are working closely together,” Stoltenberg said. Photo: nato.int.

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The alliance head further stressed the importance of the continuation of support to the reform efforts in Georgia, adding “this is part of the regular important close coordination between Georgia and NATO.” Stoltenberg reiterated support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in his comments.

Meetings of NATO ministers of defence in Brussels began today and the sessions will be hosted through Thursday.