KYIV, July 26 – President Volodymyr Zelensky signed decree instructing government agencies to develop and implement measures to deepen Ukraine’s integration into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

The decree addresses issues recently highlighted by the National Security and Defense Council, the country’s top security body, and seeks to address criticism of slow reforms in the defense sector.

Ukraine has been hoping to secure next year the Membership Action Plant, or MAP, a set of targets set by NATO members that would ensure Ukraine will eventually help to join the alliance.

Ukraine seeks to improve its defense infrastructure and to intensify the measures amid increasingly aggressive rhetoric from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has recently argued that Ukraine cannot have stable future unless it works in alliance with Russia.

Zelenskiy’s decree clearly shows that Ukraine is rejecting Putin’s arguments and is prepared to invest into building a stronger alliance with NATO instead, a development that will most likely irk Moscow.

Zelenskiy’as decree, for example, calls for the Administration of the State Border Guard Service, the State Customs Service and the Ministry of Defense to draft proposals that would simplify for NATO military personnel to cross the Ukrainian border along with weapons arriving for military drills or for other unspecified reasons.

The decree also calls on the SBU security service to submit proposals that would help Ukraine to better secure classified information, which would help the agency to protect the country’s military secrets from Russian spies.

The decree also comes with a list of clauses that have not been disclosed due to classified information.

"To enact the NSDC resolution of June 4, 2021 'On urgent measures to deepen the integration of Ukraine into the NATO (enclosed, secretly, without clauses 3, 5, 7, 8 – not secretly),” according to the decree released by the presidential press service.

"The society expects from all branches of government concrete results of the implementation of reforms that would be converted into the higher living standards and security of citizens,” according to comments from the National Security and Defense Council. “Preparing Ukraine for NATO membership is the most important state task.”

“Ukraine is taking measures for intensive interaction with NATO and the Alliance member states with in order to implement decisions on Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations, which are fixed in the Declaration of the Bucharest Summit adopted by the heads of state and government, took part in the meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Bucharest on April 3, 2008," the Council said.

The developments come less than two weeks after Ukraine and NATO concluded Black Sea drills involving dozens of warships in a two-week show of their strong ties and capability following a confrontation in June between Russia’s military forces and a British destroyer off Crimea.

The Sea Breeze 2021 maneuvers involved about 30 warships and 40 aircraft from NATO members and Ukraine. The exercise was designed to improve how the equipment and personnel of the participating nations operate together. (tl/ez)