Ukraine’s defense minister discusses boosting his country’s military capabilities with New Zealand counterpart

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) – Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov discussed bolstering his country’s defense capabilities with his New Zealand counterpart Peeni Henare in the capital Kyiv on Sunday.

“I was glad to welcome my New Zealand colleague Peeni Henare in Kyiv. We discussed our joint projects, ways to strengthen Ukrainian defense capabilities and coordinated efforts to rebuild Ukraine after the war. Thank you for your willingness to promote Ukraine's interests in Southeast Asia,” Reznikov said in a message on Twitter.

Earlier, Henare met with his Polish counterpart Mariusz Błaszczak to discuss the war in Ukraine and its consequences for the region's security, in addition to aiding Ukraine, according to a statement by the Polish Defense Ministry.

“It was a pleasure to meet with my counterpart from Poland. We expressed our condolences for the recent loss experienced in the missile incident. We thank them for their leadership on the conflict in Ukraine,” Henare said on Twitter.

New Zealand announced on Nov. 8 that it had deployed people and assets to facilitate the flow of supplies to Ukraine against Russia.

“In the UK, we are training Ukrainian troops and supporting intelligence efforts (and) we have provided humanitarian assistance to refugees and those still inside Ukraine," Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said in a statement.

New Zealand sanctioned 14 more individuals and seven entities, including military personnel, defense entities and executives, Russian-directed disinformation outlets and a paramilitary organization and its senior commanders earlier this month.