РНБОУ National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine

Oleksandr Turchynov: In the nearest time, another large-scale military training exercise of the Russian Federation will be launched near Ukraine’s border

In the nearest time, another large-scale military training exercise of the Russian Federation will be launched near Ukraine's border.

This was informed by Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov during the meeting with Minister of Defense of the Republic of Estonia Mr. Hannes Hanso.

The interlocutors discussed the current situation in Ukraine and the questions of bilateral military-technical cooperation.

According to Mr. Turchynov, no single day from the start of the Minsk agreements has passed without attacks and provocations by the Russian-terrorist groupings.

"In particular, shellings of our positions with the use of large caliber artillery systems, prohibited by the Minsk agreements, are conducted systematically", - he emphasized.

The interlocutors were unanimous in the opinion that lifting of sanctions against Russia is unacceptable until the complete liberation of Ukraine's territory. To their belief, it is important to intensify military-technical cooperation between Ukraine and the countries of Europe.

Oleksandr Turchynov and Hannes Hanso also discussed the reforms of the security and defense sector of Ukraine and Estonia's experience in this field.

The parties paid special attention to cooperation in the cybersecurity sphere, which, according to the Minister of Defense of Estonia, is a pressing matter "because NATO's cybersecurity headquarters is situated in Tallinn".

"We adopted the Cybersecurity Strategy and established the National Cybersecurity Coordination Center. This issue is extremely sensitive for us because cyber aggression is a part of hybrid war waged by Russia against Ukraine", - Mr. Turchynov added.

In his turn, Mr. Hanso assured the NSDC Secretary in the support of our country by the Estonian people.

"We always support Ukraine's position during meetings with the partners from NATO and EU", - he underscored.