Kyiv says Ukraine becomes NATO’s de facto member

Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has said that Kyiv had managed to considerably strengthen its missile defence system and sign a series of defence contracts with European partners over this year, according to Focus.Ua.

He said Ukraine also effectively became a member of the North Atlantic Alliance and Europe's "eastern shield".

"Ukraine has de facto joined the Alliance and become Europe's shield in the East," Reznikov noted.

The minister underlined that Ukraine's successfully organised defence measures made it possible to repel Russian troops and liberate more than half (54 per cent) of the territories that Russia occupied after February 24.

This success was said to be mainly achieved thanks to the echeloned air and missile defence system involving western IRIS-T, NASAMS, Aspide, Crotale, and Gepard systems.

Reznikov also said that despite the full-scale war unleashed by Russia, Ukraine managed to expand international cooperation in the defence sector in the past year, concluding agreements and contracts with the US, Germany, Denmark, the UK, the Netherlands, and Norway.