Serhiy Deineko with the delegation of the US State Department discussed steps to strengthen the capacity of border guards
Recently, the Head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Serhiy Deineko met with the delegation of the US State Department and the US Embassy in Ukraine.
Foreign colleagues, including Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verda, Jose Fernandez, Todd Robinson, Jessica Lewis and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the activities of the Border Agency.
Serhiy Deineko thanked the representatives of the US State Department for the assistance provided to border guards in strengthening their capacity during the repulse of Russia's armed aggression. And also for the decision of the US Government to increase the support of the State Border Guard Service in the implementation of tasks on the protection and defense of the borders of Ukraine.
Delegates were presented with the tools that border guards received in the framework of joint projects with the Law Enforcement Division of the US Embassy in Ukraine and under the EXBS program of international technical assistance projects. In particular — equipment, medical equipment, means of communication and surveillance, equipment, as well as unmanned aviation.
Also, during the meeting with partners, the status and prospects of further cooperation were discussed, including the possibility of launching new joint projects.
As Serhiy Deineko noted, all joint projects without exception were successful.
“The projects we started were extremely necessary and all of them were successfully implemented. This is noted directly by the US Embassy and it is noted by the Border Agency,” he said.
The Head of the State Fiscal Service noted that the priority needs of the border department remain the provision of border protection units with armored vehicles, off-road vehicles, cargo and special vehicles, UAVs and their components, autonomous surveillance systems, mobile modules for field conditions, etc. After all, as Serhiy Deineko emphasized, for the coming years, border security threats will remain on the sections of the state border with Russia and Belarus. These include shelling of the territories of the Ukrainian border, active work of sabotage groups, mined areas, armed and other provocations.
“Ukrainians are fighting not only for their cities and their country, but also for the values and key democratic principles that Russia is trying to crush. Thanks to the support of the US Embassy, the State Border Service managed to quickly rebuild our needs and direct them to the most urgent during the full-scale invasion of the aggressor country,” Serhiy Deyneko stressed.
He assured the American side of the consistency of the border agency of Ukraine in fulfilling its obligations within the framework of the state course on Euro-Atlantic integration.
For their part, the American partners assured of their continued support and interest in working for the long term and developing cooperation between the US Government and the Border Agency of Ukraine to the desired vision.
It is worth noting that since the beginning of the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation in the framework of the implementation of joint projects with the US State Department, assistance totaling about 68 million US dollars has been received. Also, since the beginning of the war, the budgets of international technical assistance projects jointly with INL and EXBS have been increased in Ukraine.
State Border Guard Service of Ukraine
