KYIV. Jan 23 (Interfax) - British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon, who is currently on a visit to Kyiv, has announced plans for a British destroyer visit to the port of Odesa this year.
This will be a first visit to Ukraine by a British ship in the past ten years, he said, according to the Ukrainian defense ministry's website.
He stressed that Britain is providing assistance to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He said that during his meeting with the Ukrainian defense minister they were able to discuss the status of implementation of all joint projects and decided to extend some of them, in particular, the project to invite British instructors to train members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which will now be extended to all branches of the Armed Forces, Fallon said. It was decided to prolong the training program from this April until March 2018, he said.
The British defense secretary also spoke of the broader cooperation between two countries' navies, in particular, an exchange of visits between top naval commands.
Britain remains committed to the cause of helping Ukraine in defending its territorial integrity and sovereignty, Fallon said. The question of extending anti-Russian sanctions will remain on the agenda until full implementation of all provisions of the Minsk accords, he said.