Umerov wrote on the website of the Defense Ministry this Friday that the plan involves reconfiguring the country’s Armed Forces in compliance with the Alliance’s standards and bolstering Kiev’s cooperation with the military bloc.

The program consists of implementing 50 steps to achieve 17 goals. It includes completing the command and management system transformation following NATO standards and setting up a joint Ukraine-NATO center for analysis, training, and education.

Ukraine applied to join NATO on a fast-track basis in September 2022. The organization adopted the final declaration at the bloc’s summit in Vilnius on July 11, 2023, and expressed confidence that the country’s future lies in the Alliance.

The invitation to join NATO could be extended to Ukraine “if the allies reach an agreement and the conditions imposed on Kiev by the West are met,” the document stated. jrr/iff/mem/gfa