A videoconference discussion between Kyiv and Washington took place on July 9, 2007

On July 9, 2007 the Atlantic Council of the United States and Democratic Initiatives Fund co-hosted a videoconference discussion between Kyiv and Washington. The event was devoted to the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the distinguished partnership between Ukraine and NATO.

Volodymyr Ogryzko, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, David Kramer, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US Department of State, Oleh Shamshur, Ambassador of Ukraine to the USA, William Taylor, US Ambassador to Ukraine, Ruslana Lyzhychko, member of Ukraine’s parliament, Slovak Ambassador to Ukraine, and the representatives of a number of US think tanks, political establishment, and non-government organizations participated in the discussion.

The participants emphasized that Ukraine-NATO relationship has significantly developed for the last 10 years, and a signing of the corresponding Charter in Madrid, Spain furthered the implementation of the social, economic, political, market, and military reforms in Ukraine. The discussion involved the issues of common Ukraine and NATO accomplishments — participation in KFOR and stabilization efforts in Afghanistan, elimination of stockpiles of light weapons and MANPADs, and active cooperation in nonproliferation etc. However, participants of the conference agreed that the Ukrainian society lacks the information on the level of cooperation with the Alliance and benefits from such cooperation.