KYIV, Sept 7 – Newly appointed Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said he will seek a bigger role for the ministry as well as expand the international coalition in support of Ukraine as his top priorities.

"I will define five priorities indicated by the president. The ministry should become the main institution for coordinating the defense forces. This concerns both the formation of the strategy and policy of the defense of Ukraine, and the coordination of the tasks of distributing resources between the defense departments," he said at the introduction by the president on Thursday.