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“Talking about the priorities of the Defence Ministry, we should start with the main thing – the need to ensure high defence capability of the country, the ability of the Armed Forces to provide adequate response to the enemy. The response should be such that the aggressor will lose the desire to test the strength of our fighters,” Andrii Taran stressed. According to him, the army, first of all, must be well-armed.

“Unfortunately, this issue is a problem. The Armed Forces need technological modernization and transition to modern weapon systems using the latest technologies. We need a thought-out weapon development programme, not a random purchase for patching old holes,” he emphasized.

According to him, it is necessary to continue the policy aimed at social protection of service personnel and their families.

“People who commit their vital force and lives to protect Homeland must be socially protected. Creating decent conditions for military service and “motivational package” provides service personnel and their families with housing, decent financial support, priority right of entry to educational institutions, free education, provision of quality medical services, etc.,” noted Andrii Taran. The Minister of Defence emphasized that all this will increase the prestige of the service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, make it attractive and promising, resolve the issue of manning and enhance the level of combat capabilities.

“Taking into account our realities, the primary objective of the Ministry of Defence, instead of the ambitious one but unachievable goal fully adapting the Ukrainian Armed Forces to NATO standards in the near future, should be a very real goal – to maximize the ability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to interoperate with Alliance forces,” the Minister of Defence of Ukraine emphasized. He also noted that the urgent need to reform the military sphere is to implement NATO standards in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“To ensure high defence capability of our country, we need to create comprehensive and far-reaching territorial defence system. Of course, this is not just a task for the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. It is one of the priorities for the entire national security system,” Minister of Defence of Ukraine emphasized.

“We are at war. Therefore, all areas of activity are complicated by the need for reforms during of armed confrontation. However, activities to reform the army are urgently needed by the state, if we want reach peace in Ukraine,” said Andrii Taran.