KYIV. July 17 (Interfax) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has stressed the importance of deepening Ukraine's integration into the European Union and NATO, according to a statement on the presidential website.
"Ukraine has clearly defined its vector of foreign-policy development: membership in the EU and in the Alliance. And to us, an exceptionally important result of the NATO summit is the fact that it is certified in the final acts that the NATO's doors are open to Ukraine. It is clearly stated that the decisions of the Bucharest summit of 2008 are valid. It is clearly stated that no nation, including the Russian Federation, can stop Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic movement," Poroshenko said at the international military exercise Sea Breeze during his working visit to Odesa.
Poroshenko thanked all of Ukraine's partners for their help in implementing reforms in the area of national security and defense. "This is not only about defending Ukrainian territory. We are at NATO's eastern flank. We are defending Europe together. [...] We are open for exchanging information, knowledge, and best practices, because Ukraine is virtually the only country that has stopped the invasion of the Russian aggressor state," Poroshenko said.
The Ukrainian-U.S. exercise is being held in the Black Sea, at military airfields and ranges of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Tendrovska Spit, the Ochakiv military port, Odesa International Airport, the Odesa Merchant Seaport, and the Yuzhny Merchant Seaport on 25 days between June and October.
As many as 1,500 Ukrainian servicemen with standard weapons and military hardware, up to 30 ships, and up to 10 aircraft are participating in the drills. The U.S. is sending up to 1,000 servicemen, up to ten ships, up to two submarines, and up to ten aircraft. Other NATO countries are sending up to 1,200 servicemen, up to ten ships, up to three submarines, and up to ten aircraft.