The UK works to promote peace and security in Ukraine and in other Central and Eastern European countries as part of its unifying purpose to assist in the development of stable, sovereign and democratic states and to combat international terrorism and the proliferation of weapons. To contribute to this effort, the Defence Section channels UK support to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces and other bodies that enhance national security; and are involved in a process of reform and modernisation.

This process is an essential part of the Action Plan to which NATO nations and Ukraine committed themselves in Prague in November 2002. The Action Plan and its associated Annual Target Plan, form one of the cornerstones of Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration policy. This was formulated in May 2002 but has become even more important under the government of President Yushchenko, which has set integration into the EU and NATO as its main foreign policy objective.

How our purpose is achieved:

The Defence Section achieves this purpose by planning and executing a wide-ranging bilateral co-operation programme with the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. This is the largest programme of its kind undertaken by the UK Ministry of Defence in the Central and Eastern European area.

The main elements of the bilateral programme are:

• development of the Ukrainian military's English language capacity
• advanced training of Ukrainian Officers, particularly in command, management and staff skills
• combined UK/Ukraine military exercises
• consultancy support to Ukrainian defence reform projects
• other activities that complement those offered by other NATO member countries to increase the effectiveness of NATO's overall assistance to Ukraine.

The UK also provides a Special Defence Adviser, Mr Stephen Glover, to the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. He is a UK civil servant and an expert in security sector reform. He took up his post in the Ministry in September 2006 and now works directly with the First Deputy Defence Minister, advising on defence reform and change management.