U.S. and Ukraine sign defense agreement (12/17/00)

U.S. and Ukraine sign defense agreement

WASHINGTON - The United States and Ukraine signed a Plan of Cooperation for 2001 that is designed to meet "mutually agreed upon goals" and continue their Cooperative Threat Reduction Program.

The agreement was signed on December 5 at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, by Secretary of Defense William Cohen and Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksander Kuzmuk while the two men were in Brussels for the NATO defense ministers' meeting. The U.S. Department of Defense reported that Secretary Cohen and Minister Kuzmuk signed the annual Plan of Cooperation between the U.S. Department of Defense and Ukraine's Ministry of Defense.

Building on the first plan, signed in 1993, this bilateral plan sets out defense and military cooperation activities between the two countries for 2001.

Cooperation between the defense ministries in 2001, is designed to meet mutually agreed upon goals in eight main focus areas, including interoperability, force professionalization, civil-military affairs, defense structuring and resourcing, and military technical cooperation.

Engagement activities and U.S. assistance will specifically meet Ukrainian goals set out in its Defense Reform and Restructuring Plan through 2005. The Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, the hallmark program of U.S. engagement since 1993, will continue with activities to assist Ukraine in eliminating weapon systems covered by START as well as the infrastructure for weapons of mass destruction.

| Home Page |