You're reading: NATO to begin second stage of cooperation with Ukraine in cyber security

Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze has said that NATO has already provided Ukraine with more than 1 million euro in assistance in the field of cyber security under the relevant trust fund and intends to begin the second stage of cooperation.

“I can name the total amount that was accumulated in the trust fund – 1.05 million euro. These funds have been spent, but they also include payment for the services of experts who conducted the required analysis,” Klympush-Tsintsadze said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

The deputy prime minister said the funds were provided for the trust fund for Ukraine, which is overseen by Romania, in order to cover the country’s needs in the field of cyber security.

“We’ve approached the end of the first stage of the fund’s work. During the meeting of the Ukraine-NATO commission on July 10, the Allies expressed their readiness to move to the second stage of the fund’s operation,” she said.

According to Klympush-Tsintsadze, at the moment Ukraine, namely the Security Service of Ukraine as the agency responsible for cooperation with this fund, should assess the country’s needs in the field of cyber security.

“And then the country responsible for this fund (Romania) will coordinate with other countries the implementation of the tasks identified by the parties,” Klympush-Tsintsadze said.

She added that in the past earlier this whole process took a year, but now, given the available experience, this should go faster.

The deputy prime minister said Ukraine and NATO are actively cooperating in the field of cyber security: “The NATO headquarters invited our experts in this field to visit it to learn more about the cyber defense system and exchange experience.”