Ukraine, UK agree to expand military cooperation

Kiev, April 22 (IANS) Ukraine and the UK have reached an agreement on expanding the Orbital training mission and working on strengthening the Ukrainian Navy.This agreement was reached during the visit of the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Ruslan Khomchak to the UK on April 19-20 and his meeting with the British Chief of the General Staff, General Nick Carter, reports Xinhua news agency.Khomchak thanked the UK for its assistance in increasing the combat capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and their compatibility with NATO troops.Carter, in turn, said the British Armed Forces had trained over 20,000 Ukrainian servicemen as part of bilateral military cooperation. He also said the British side leads the initiative to train the Ukrainian Navy and supports defense reform in Ukraine.Britain-led Operation Orbital, a training program for the Ukrainian armed forces, was established in 2015 following the request of the Ukrainian authorities.
--IANS ksk/