President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky met with NATO Military Committee Chairman Stuart Peach and thanked the Alliance for its attention to Ukraine and support.
"We are grateful for NATO's serious interest in the situation in Ukraine, the east and the occupied Crimea. We are grateful to our partners for their constant support for our sovereignty and territorial integrity. Unfortunately, we really see complications now in the east of Ukraine, in Donbas. We really see an increase in the number of gunshots," Volodymyr Zelensky said during the meeting on April 7, the press service of the Head of State informs.
The President noted that Ukraine had taken significant steps to de-escalate the situation in the east, when a permanent ceasefire was introduced on July 27. Those steps took effect. From the beginning of the ceasefire regime until December 2020, there were only a few shots and a significant decrease in the number of fallen defenders, he said.
However, the Head of State noted that complications began in December, and so far Ukraine has lost more than 20 of its soldiers. In this regard, Ukraine constantly calls for compliance with the ceasefire in the format in which it operated last year after July 27.
The President of Ukraine also raised the issue of disinformation as a powerful tool in hybrid warfare.
The meeting was attended by Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andriy Taran, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ruslan Khomchak, Deputy Head of the President's Office Ihor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of the President's Office Roman Mashovets, Head of the NATO Representation to Ukraine Alexander Vinnikov and representative of the NATO International Military Staff in Ukraine Ferdinand Dycha.