In his address at the meeting with North Atlantic Council and NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, President Victor Yushchenko pointed out substantial progress on many directions of Ukraine-NATO cooperation after NATO Bucharest Summit.

The President underlined extremely importance of the decision made by the Allianceon June 13 which had been opening possibility for Ukraine to join NATO Rapid reaction force. “It is the first decision of such kind in the history of our relations with the Alliance. It’s important for development of our contribution into strengthening European and global security and stability”, - Victor Yushchenko said.

President also stressed the decision on Ukraine’s willingness to join the United Kingdom/France initiative to support helicopter capability upgrades and pilot training, which had been approved on May 15 during President Yushchenko’s visit to Great Britain. “We are to develop this dimension of our cooperation. Ukrainewill continue working actively with the Alliancein providing transportation and fulfilling other needs in peacekeeping operations, which NATO is responsible for”, - he said adding that these facts of cooperation development show Ukraine’s eagerness to be a contributor of global security promotion.

Press office of President Victor Yushchenko