NATO Military Committee makes first Kyiv visit in eight years

A delegation from NATO's Military Committee, representing all 32 alliance member states, visited Kyiv on Tuesday and met Ukraine's armed forces commander-in-chief, Mykhailo Drapatyi, committee chairman Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone said in a video statement. It was the first visit by the Military Committee to the Ukrainian capital in eight years.

Dragone said the trip fulfilled a promise he made to Drapatyi, whom he described as a close friend, during a conversation in August. He said that although the committee had not visited Kyiv in person for eight years, Ukraine had remained in its thoughts, discussions and decisions throughout that time, according to Hromadske. The visit followed one by the North Atlantic Council, NATO's top political decision-making body, to Kyiv in June.

The military representatives came to get an up-to-date assessment of the battlefield situation directly from Ukraine's command, and discussed expanding military support and responding to the armed forces' urgent needs, according to Hromadske and Ukrainska Pravda. The delegation also paid tribute to Ukrainian service members at Kyiv's Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

Dragone said NATO's support for Ukraine continued to grow and that the alliance's unity was stronger than ever, warning that sabotage, cyberattacks and airspace violations against NATO states would not weaken that resolve. "You will fail," he said, addressing those responsible for such acts, according to Hromadske. Unpublicised, asymmetric responses to Russian provocations were being prepared, he added, according to Latvijas Avize.

Dragone also said Europe was facing a full-scale war alongside a growing list of hybrid attacks, and that the only possible response was to further strengthen defence support for Ukraine, Latvijas Avize reported. The delegation included military representatives from all 32 member states travelling together, Jauns.lv reported.

Separately, a Ukrainian negotiating team is due to meet US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in the United States this week to discuss a new proposal aimed at ending the war, Austrian outlet Kurier and German outlet T-Online News reported. Representatives of the European Union and NATO are also expected to take part in those talks alongside Ukraine's delegation, Latvian outlets Apollo.lv and TVNET reported.