During the recent visit, Lieutenant General Cloutier, fresh of a visit to the Baltics to meet with alliance land forces leaders there, met with Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander for Ukraine’s Land Forces and his staff at his Kyiv headquarters. Lieutenant General Cloutier’s purpose was to gain an understanding of Ukraine’s Land Forces and deepen the cooperative relationship LANDCOM has with Ukraine as a strategic land forces partner.
I find the fact I’m concluding this land domain fact-finding mission here in the Land Forces Headquarters of a nation that is a critical partner to our NATO mission of deterrence and defense incredibly appropriate.
“This visit to Kyiv is the final part on a multi-nation tour to see NATO’s land forces and their leadership,” said Lieutenant General Cloutier during a post-engagement press conference. “I find the fact I’m concluding this land domain fact-finding mission here in the Land Forces Headquarters of a nation that is a critical partner to our NATO mission of deterrence and defense incredibly appropriate.”
LANDCOM Commander participates in discussions at Ukraine's Land Forces Headquarters.
LANDCOM plays a leading role in the standardization of NATO land forces as well as partner land forces like Ukraine who participate in the Operations Capabilities Concept (OCC) program. In 2019, LANDCOM sent an OCC evaluation team to Ukraine for Exercise Rapid Trident 2019 to evaluate a Ukrainian Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) unit, an Engineer Company and a Military police platoon. LANDCOM also sent a team to Ukraine to conduct training on logistics planning that year, and in 2020 formed a collaborative relationship with the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s Strategic Communication Directorate.
Colonel General Syrskiy pointed out the significance of LANDCOM’s visit.
“The visit of [the] NATO Land Forces Commander indicates that NATO military and political leadership and Alliance countries governments see us as the strategic and future partner,” suggesting his country aims to become full member of “the world’s most powerful collective security system” one day. “It also clearly confirms consistency of NATO’s approach to support Ukraine in reforming the national security and defense sector,” he said.
Lieutenant General Roger L. Cloutier accepts a commemorative plaque from his Ukraine Land Forces counterpart, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi.
In 12 June 2020, Ukraine was designated an Enhanced Opportunity Partner, joining Australia, Finland, Georgia, Jordan and Sweden as nations who make particularly significant contributions to NATO operations and other Alliance objectives. As such, these countries enjoy enhanced opportunities for dialogue and cooperation with the Allies. As a NATO partner, Ukraine has provided troops to Allied operations, including in Afghanistan and Kosovo, as well as to the NATO Response Force and NATO exercises. Allies highly value these significant contributions, which demonstrate Ukraine’s commitment to Euro-Atlantic security. As an Enhanced Opportunities Partner, Ukraine will benefit from tailor-made opportunities to help sustain such contributions. This includes enhanced access to interoperability programmes and exercises, and more sharing of information, including lessons learned.
Lieutenant General Roger L. Cloutier expresses his deep appreciation to Colonel General Ruslan Khomchak, Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Deputy Prime Minister for Defence for European Intergration, Antolii Petrenko and LANDCOM Commander Lieutenant General Roger L. Cloutier exchange gifts following their meeting at Ukraine's Ministry of Defence.
During his visit in Kyiv, Lieutenant General Cloutier also met with Ukraine’s Chief of the Armed Forces, Colonel General Ruslan Khomchak; Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Anatolii Petrenko; and Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Olha Stefanishyna.
During his meeting with Deputy Defence Minister Petrenko, Lieutenant General Cloutier highlighted the unique experience of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in counteracting hybrid threats and expressed interest in a detailed study of the issue. He said had invited Colonel General Syrski and representatives of Ukraine’s Land Forces to take part in future conferences and help other NATO land domain commanders understand the threat.
Lieutenant General Roger L. Cloutier discusses ways LANDCOM can help Ukraine's Land Forces become NATO interoperable with Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration.
For her part, Deputy Prime Minister Stefanishyna underpinned the very reasons behind LANDCOM’s purposes for pursuing the cooperative partnership.
“First and foremost, we focus on modernizing our security and defense sector in line with the Alliance's standards and practices,” she said. “I am convinced that the security of NATO and the security of Ukraine are interdependent, and this is the basis for the prosperity not only of Europe, but also of the entire transatlantic region.”